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On 1/6/25 The FDA released 6 updated draft guidances for Tissue Donation
The new policies remove all gendered language, including the 5-year blanket MSM deferment policy (which prevented any sexually active queer men, trans women, and other gender-diverse donors from donating their tissues if they were sexually active once in the five years before death) This policy was initially implemented in 1994 and was not revised until the January 2025 update. The policy is applied to corneas, heart valves, skin, bones, tendons, anonymous sperm (sperm banks), and more.
The updated text is identical to blood donation eligibility criteria from May of 2025- if finalized, individuals will be able to donate if they have not had:
1) a new sexual partner and anal sex in the past 3 months OR 2) multiple sexual partners and anal sex in the past 3 months. All donors of all genders will be asked the same questions. Similarly to blood donation, individuals receiving prophylaxis medications to prevent HIV (PrEP, PEP) will not be able to donate if they took the medication within the past 3 months for oral routes or 2 years for injectable routes due to the medication(s)'s impact on the effectiveness of HIV testing.
The new policies remove all gendered language, including the 5-year blanket MSM deferment policy (which prevented any sexually active queer men, trans women, and other gender-diverse donors from donating their tissues if they were sexually active once in the five years before death) This policy was initially implemented in 1994 and was not revised until the January 2025 update. The policy is applied to corneas, heart valves, skin, bones, tendons, anonymous sperm (sperm banks), and more.
The updated text is identical to blood donation eligibility criteria from May of 2025- if finalized, individuals will be able to donate if they have not had:
1) a new sexual partner and anal sex in the past 3 months OR 2) multiple sexual partners and anal sex in the past 3 months. All donors of all genders will be asked the same questions. Similarly to blood donation, individuals receiving prophylaxis medications to prevent HIV (PrEP, PEP) will not be able to donate if they took the medication within the past 3 months for oral routes or 2 years for injectable routes due to the medication(s)'s impact on the effectiveness of HIV testing.
Hi, We're Pride & Plasma
We're here to fight discriminatory policies impacting the queer community in healthcare
We started in May of 2022 with the FDA's Blood Ban that prevents queer men from giving blood. We've since expanded our work to fight the FDA's 30+ year ban on tissue donations from queer men, inclusive blood donation practices for gender-diverse donors, equitable organ donation practices, and more.
5 research briefs submitted to the FDA, countless social media posts, and dozens of partnerships later, we're still fighting for LGBTQ+ equality in blood tissue, and organ donation.
We started in May of 2022 with the FDA's Blood Ban that prevents queer men from giving blood. We've since expanded our work to fight the FDA's 30+ year ban on tissue donations from queer men, inclusive blood donation practices for gender-diverse donors, equitable organ donation practices, and more.
5 research briefs submitted to the FDA, countless social media posts, and dozens of partnerships later, we're still fighting for LGBTQ+ equality in blood tissue, and organ donation.
On 5/11/23 The FDA released final updated guidance for Blood Donation
The new policy removes all gendered text, including the MSM deferment policy Additionally, with trans women and AMAB non-binary donors are able to donate without being subject to policies intended to be applied to queer men
*this is the recommendation, but may take some time for individual blood centers to implement it. Pride and Plasma recommends contacting your local blood center(s) to determine eligibility prior to donation*
The new policy removes all gendered text, including the MSM deferment policy Additionally, with trans women and AMAB non-binary donors are able to donate without being subject to policies intended to be applied to queer men
*this is the recommendation, but may take some time for individual blood centers to implement it. Pride and Plasma recommends contacting your local blood center(s) to determine eligibility prior to donation*
What Does Pride & Plasma Do?
Why now?The FDA had banned queer men from donating blood in some form since 1985. This ban is not backed in science and only exacerbates the current blood shortage.
We can't fight for the right for queer men to donate blood without also working to ensure equality for trans and nonbinary donors. Patients die everyday while waiting for organ donations. Queer men are barred from donating certain organs, even in death, if they've been sexually active in the past 5 years- this is discriminatory just like the blood ban. It needs to end. |
How?Our Standard Process:
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How Can You Help?We need as much help as we can get to spread the word and end the ban. Share our work, tell your friends, sign our petitions. We can't do this alone.
We are always looking to build our team- we are recruiting campus ambassadors from colleges and universities, project leads, and area coordinators. If you've got an idea, we'd love to discuss. Learn more on our "Join Our Team" page |
What is our end goal?Simple- end the bans.
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