Orlando Shooting: Gay Men Outraged Over Continued Ban On Blood Donation
By Sheena McKenzie
PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Of the hundreds of people lining up around the block to donate blood to the victims of the Orlando shooting, one group was not required.
Gay or bisexual men who have had sex with another man in the past 12 months are not allowed to donate blood, according to official rules from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The ban has caused outrage among some in the gay community who say they are being stopped from helping their LGBT "brothers and sisters" targeted in Sunday's shooting at the Pulse nightclub.
Forty-nine people were killed when Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire in the gay bar. At least 53 more were wounded in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
Easier to buy a gun than donate blood?
Following the attack, OneBlood donation center immediately put out an urgent call for donors to help hospitals deal with the massive influx of injured people.
And while the response from the public has been huge -- the center's website crashed from online traffic alone -- sexually active gay and bisexual men are still barred from donating.
Many hit back at the ban online, saying it's easier to buy a gun than for a gay man to donate blood in the United States.
Temporary lifting of ban?
There have been conflicting reports over whether the ban had been temporarily lifted, with Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan telling CNN: "They lifted the ban on gay men giving blood yesterday."
"They've been able to test for HIV in the blood system for years, and this is what it took to allow gay men to finally be able to give blood. And they lined up. There were 1,500 people in line yesterday," she said.
However, the OneBlood donation center said Sunday that all FDA guidelines remained in place in a tweet.
Origins of ban
The FDA implemented a lifetime ban of blood donations from gay and bisexual men in 1983 at the start of the AIDS epidemic when little was known about the spread of the disease.
Since the ban was first introduced more than three decades ago, screening technologies have vastly improved, and the FDA updated its guidance on the issue in 2015.
Under the latest rules, gay and bisexual men may donate blood, provided it has been 12 months since their last sexual encounter with another man.
At the time of the rules revision, the Human Rights Campaign said that the change was a "step in the right direction" but the new policy "still falls short of a fully acceptable solution because it continues to stigmatize gay and bisexual men."
Other countries that have implemented a one-year deferral policy include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
How safe is American blood?
Every unit of blood donated in the United States must undergo 13 tests, including 10 for infectious diseases (such as HIV, hepatitis and syphilis).
The use of donor education material, specific deferral questions and advances in donor testing have reduced the risk of HIV transmission from a blood transfusion to about 1 in 1.5-2 million blood units, according to the National Institutes of Health.
While it is possible to detect HIV in a unit of blood nine to 11 days following infection, the NIH says that once a person is infected with HIV, it generally takes about three months for the body to produce enough antibodies to be detected by an HIV antibody test. For some people, it can take up to six months.
So who can donate blood? All donors must be in good general health, at least 17 years old -- in most states, including Florida -- and weigh at least 110 pounds, according to the Red Cross.
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