Gay Blood Drive hopes to lift donation ban

SEATTLE -- For nearly four decades, blood banks across the country have not accepted blood from gay men.

Now, a national movement is hoping to change that.

Seattle is just one of 50 cities hosting taking donors in the first ever nationwide gay blood drive Friday. The drive -- happening at Seattle's Puget Sound Blood Center from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- is in an effort to put pressure on the Federal Drug Administration's ban on gay male blood donors.

The drive is being put on by director Ryan James Yezak, the director of Second Class Citizens, a feature-length documentary that looks at discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The FDA bans donations from men who have had sex with other men since 1977, saying there is an increased risk of exposure to and transmission of infectious diseases -- including HIV -- in male-to-male sexual encounters.

"FDA uses multiple layers of safeguards in its approach to ensuring blood safety," the government agency's website says. The FDA screens all potential blood donors based on risk factors and signs of infections.

Blood banks have been instructed to ask male donors if they have ever had sex with a man. If the potential donor responds "yes," he is instantly removed from the donor pool for life.

The policy started in the 1980s when people didn't know how the deadly virus that causes AIDS spread. At the time, there wasn't a good test to detect whether HIV was present in donated blood, and HIV was getting into the nation's blood supply. Scientists also knew that a disproportionate number of gay men were affected by the virus.

But many no longer agree with the ban.

"This ban is medically unwarranted, and this drive is the only way we can motion for change," Yezak said. "The gay community shouldn't be written off as diseased."

Blood donations were down by 10% across the country in June, according to the American Red Cross, which received about 50,000 fewer donations than expected.

Those interested in donating should donated the Puget Sound Blood Center at 921 Terry Ave. in Seattle between 7 a.m. and 3. p.m. For more information, click here.

With information from CNN