“So that’s something that’s active right now.” “That the questionnaire would be changed so that it would not be so challenging for gay and bisexual men to donate blood,” Michaels said. Some researchers argue there shouldn’t be any waiting period for gay and bisexual men. That deferral went down from one year to three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “If you remember back in time, there was basically a lifetime restriction put on gay and bisexual men,” Michaels said. Gay and bisexual women don’t have to wait. Right now the FDA requires gay and bisexual men to abstain from sex with other men for three months just to give blood regardless of their overall health. It made me feel like…why is my blood not good enough when I’m relatively healthy?”
“And I said you know what, I’m not eligible. “I came to the “Have you done this this and this” and one of the questions was having sexual relations with men,” Lyman said. Todd Lyman experienced it first hand just a few years ago when he tried to donate blood for the first time at a local blood drive. But there’s one group that, for decades, has faced barriers to donating.
