HEALTH
White House: Blood Ban Painful, But No Change Yet
Men who have sex with men remain barred from donating blood
BY MATT TRACY
Against the backdrop of a
nationwide blood shortage,
the Biden administration
on January
18 voiced support for an ongoing
study that could pave the way for
changes to the decades-old federal
policy banning men who have sex
with men from donating blood.
“The legacy of bans on blood
donation continues to be painful,
especially for LGBTQI+ communities,”
a White House offi cial told
ABC News. “The president is committed
to ensuring that this policy
is based on science, not fi ction or
stigma. While there are no new
decisions to announce at the moment,
the Food and Drug Administration
is currently supporting
the ‘ADVANCE’ study, a scientifi c
study to develop relevant scientifi c
evidence and inform any potential
policy changes.”
A study slated to conclude in mid-2022 could help determine the fate of a federal policy banning men
who have sex with men from donating blood.
The American Red Cross says
it is experiencing its worst blood
shortage in over a decade, pointing
to a 10 percent dip in blood donations
since March of 2020 and a
62 percent reduction in college and
high school blood drives because
of the pandemic.
In 1983, the FDA imposed a lifetime
blood donation ban on men
REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI
who have sex with men due to fears
over HIV/AIDS, though that policy
has been gradually scaled back in
recent years. In 2015, the lifetime
ban was changed to include anyone
who had sex with men in the
last 12 months. In April of 2020,
the one-year deferral period was
reduced to three months, but that
still made no difference for any
sexually active queer men.
Months after the latest change
to the ban in 2020, the FDA announced
that it was funding a pilot
study led by three major American
blood centers — the American Red
Cross, OneBlood, and Vitalant —
to explore the possibility of having
men who have sex with men fi ll
out a typical donor history questionnaire
to qualify as a donor.
The American Association of Blood
Banks called on the FDA to review
the policy back in 1997.
Responding to Gay City News on
January 19, an FDA spokesperson
acknowledged that scientifi c advancements
have made it easier to
screen the blood supply for infectious
diseases, but conceded that
“developing the scientifi c information
that is needed to further
change blood donor policies does
take time and effort.”
The ADVANCE study’s results are
expected in the middle of this year.
Equality Act Gets Fresh Wave of Corporate Support
More than 500 businesses now back federal LGBTQ rights initiative
BY MATT TRACY
The Equality Act now
has the support of more
than 500 corporations,
according to the Human
Rights Campaign, after dozens of
additional businesses signed on
to back the effort to pass a comprehensive
federal LGBTQ rights
bill that has stalled in Congress
since the House of Representative
passed it last year.
Eighty-seven corporations — including
Stop & Shop, Sony, MetLife,
Harley-Davidson, and McDonald’s
— were added to the growing list
of businesses that have thrown
their weight behind the legislation,
which would amend Title VII of the
1964 Civil Rights Act to include
protections on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity.
The hundreds of businesses make
Sony has joined a list of more than 500 corporations supporting the Equality Act.
up what is known as the Business
Coalition for the Equality Act —
which now consists of 503 members,
up from 416 as of last April.
The renewed push to advance
the Equality Act comes more than
a year after the Supreme Court
ruled that the Title VII ban on
employment discrimination covers
sexual orientation and gender
REUTERS/THOMAS PETER
identity — and now folks are trying
to reignite momentum to build on
that ruling with a federal bill.
“The Equality Act will take major
strides toward ensuring that
LGBTQ+ people are treated with
equal dignity in the eyes of the
law, and affi rm the longstanding
American value that everyone deserves
to be treated equally and
fairly,” Joni Madison, the interim
president of HRC, said in a written
statement announcing the fresh
infl ux of corporate approval. “It’s
time for the Senators of both parties
to support the Equality Act
and send it to President Biden’s
desk for his signature.”
The Equality Act, however, has
hit a wall since passing the lower
chamber because it does not have
enough Senate votes to overcome
the fi libuster and still lacks the
backing of US Senator Joe Manchin
of West Virginia, who is the lone
Democratic holdout in the Senate.
The corporations in favor the
Equality Act employ more than 15
million people and conduct business
in all 50 states, according
to HRC. Other new additions to
the coalition include REI, Edward
Jones, Boston Beer Company, Honeywell,
and Del Monte Foods.
JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 9,8 2022 | GayCityNews.com
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