Canada to lift restrictions on gay men donating blood [but not really]

ABC News ^ | April 28, 2022 | The Associated Press via ABC News

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The blood service asked Health Canada to allow it to scrap questions about gender or sexuality, and instead base screening on higher-risk sexual behavior such as anal sex.

Starting no later than Sept. 30, potential donors will be asked if they have had new or multiple sexual partners in the last previous months, no matter their gender or sexual orientation. Those who say yes will be asked if they have engaged in higher-sisk sex. If they have, they will need to wait three months after such activity before donating blood.

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Remind me not to get hurt in Canada

Soon to be duplicated here in the good ol’ USA.

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Fortunately, blood banks have the liberty (for now) to be stricter than the FDA recommendations, although they cannot be less strict. In that sense, they already are private blood banks.

I was quite surprised about a year ago when I went to donate blood at the longest-running blood center in my city that they still had the question about “sex with a man since 1977” on their donor questionnaire. Pleasantly surprised. We’ll see how long that is allowed to last by the Gaystapo.