FDA Allows More Gay and Bisexual Men to Donate Blood
if they had engaged in sex in the past three months. That change — necessitated by the need for plasma, especially from individuals who had been infected with but overcame COVID-19, as a treatment for infected individuals — replaced a longer 12-month deferral period for men who have sex with men, which was imposed in 2015, supplanting a lifetime ban on gay or bisexual male donors.In place of a categorical deferral, the FDA will instead institute a risk-based questionnaire asking the same questions of all donors, regardless of sexual orientation, biological sex, or gender identity.