That's because gay men, the FDA argues, are at "increased risk of certain transfusion transmissible infections" like AIDS and hepatitis B. The FDA, in other words, considers the sort of man who pays women for sex to be healthier - and his blood less of a risk to you - than a man who last had sex with another man 30 years ago. He can give blood after sleeping with a prostitute - provided he waits 12 months. In 40 states, a man can even give blood immediately after getting a tattoo. Get the facts you need to Lower Your STD Odds.) (Everyone is at risk for STD transmission. Even with a clean bill of health, a gay man is considered more of a threat to the blood supply than a straight man who was treated for chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, venereal warts, and genital herpes within the past year. The FDA classifies all gay men in the highest-risk blood-donor category - the same category as IV drug users and people who've spent more than five years since 1980 in a country that has mad cow disease. I'd still be doing it if I were eligible." "I shrug my shoulders and say it's too bad.
CAN GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD IN US TV
"Occasionally I see calls on TV for blood donations," Dassey says. If you are a gay man, and you answer that question truthfully, the result is a lifetime ban. "From 1977 to the present," it reads, "have you had sexual contact with another male, even once?" And he still remembers the day nearly three decades ago when he saw the survey question first appear, the one all potential donors still answer every time they give blood. Like millions of other gay men, Dassey used to give blood a few times a year without a second thought. "It doesn't even go through my head anymore." "I've known for 30 years that I can't donate," he says. Dassey, a doctor who works for the county's public health department, didn't join them. Many of his fellow runners sprinted to the nearest blood donation centers, fearing the worst. Last April he competed in Boston for the fourth time and almost made it to the finish - just past the 25-mile mark - when the bombs exploded. At 62, he can still run a sub-four marathon.
David Dassey is one of the healthiest men in Los Angeles.