Schools across the nation are participating in a nationwide blood drive protesting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) current policies which bans gay and bisexual men from donating blood, Campus Reform reported.
The University of Cincinnati's Hoxworth Blood Center, Lane Community College in Oregon and Western Michigan University are a few of many institutions hosting a National Gay Blood Drive to encourage the federal agency to change their policy.
According to the FDA's website, men who have had sex with other men at any time since 1977 -- the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the United States - have an increased risk for HIV, hepatitis B and other types of infections that can be transmitted through blood transfusion.
The ban was imposed in 1983, at the height of the AIDS scare when people knew very little about it and there was no effective or simple test to detect HIV in blood, Time.com reported.
"It's quite apparent that over the years, with the improvement of the safety of the blood supply, that perhaps these policies need to be revisited, and that's the momentum to re-look at the policies," Dr. Ronald Sacher, director of the Hoxworth Blood Center, told WCPO Cincinnati.
Josh Neumeyer, coordinator for the Hoxworth blood drive, used to donate blood regularly in college but has not been able to since he became sexually active as a gay man.
"I would gladly [give blood] again," Neumeyer told Campus Reform. "But at the end of the day, it will be up to the FDA who makes the final decision with the policy."
Sacher said he believes the FDA -- along with America's Blood Centers, AABB, and the American Red Cross - should change their indefinite ban on gay or bisexual men to a 12-month deferral period. The deferral period "would be the same as for those who have an increased sexual behavior," Campus Reform reported.
