This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. ET with comment from the National Gay Blood Drive and 2:30 p.m. ET with comments from Rep. Jared Polis and Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Federal health officials are relaxing the United States' 32-year-old lifetime ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men, while keeping one major restriction in place: Hopeful donors will have to maintain a one-year period of abstinence.
Medical groups and gay activists have long said the ban -- which was was put in place during the early AIDS crisis and is known in the queer community as the MSM ban -- could no longer be justified, based on modern testing methods.
FDA moves to 12 month MSM deferral for blood donation and commits to working to further progress policy. https://t.co/A7Air7NdlS— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) December 21, 2015
The FDA's Acting Commissioner, Stephen Ostroff, M.D., said on Monday that the change -- which will require the one-year abstinence period -- "is backed by sound science."
That part of the decision was met with widespread derision shortly after the announcement, with openly gay Congressman Jared Polis saying it "still puts stereotypes before public health."
New policy still puts stereotypes before public health. FDA should assess risks based on science, not stigma. https://t.co/3ZitMasgEM— Rep. Jared Polis (@RepJaredPolis) December 21, 2015
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is currently seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said it was "still discriminatory and doesn't look at actual risk factors."
.@US_FDA should lift blood ban on gay and bisexual men. A 1 year ban is still discriminatory and doesn't look at actual risk factors. #LGBT— Martin O'Malley (@MartinOMalley) December 21, 2015
Others called it simply "a joke."
The FDA requiring gay men to be abstinent for a year before blood donation is a joke right? RIGHT? What century is this?— Maggie (@MaggieBlack) December 21, 2015
The FDA stance is in line that of other countries, including Australia and the UK. While scientists have examined the effect on the safety of 12-month deferral system for blood donations there, no peer-reviewed studies are available for shorter deferral intervals, the FDA said.
But a December 2014 survey conducted by YouGov found that just 6% of Americans supported the FDA's compromise plan. Most said it shouldn't matter if prospective male donors had had sex with another man.
Stating they supported the policy change, Jay Franzone, Director of Communications at the National Gay Blood Drive, a group that coordinates a blood drive for gay men, said "the revised policy is still discriminatory."
"While many gay and bisexual men will be eligible to donate their blood and help save lives under this 12 month deferral, countless more will continue to be banned solely on the basis of their sexual orientation and without medical or scientific reasoning," he said. Ryan James Yezak, the group's founder, said they would move forward with organizing a blood drive for men who have sex with men "immediately."
Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, defended the one-year decision in the FDA announcement, saying the agency had "rigorously examined several alternative options" but that the deferral window was "supported by the best available scientific evidence, at this point in time, relevant to the U.S. population."
"We will continue to actively conduct research in this area and further revise our policies as new data emerge," he added.