THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

"Urging the FDA to listen to the science and update their discriminatory blood donation guidance has been my mission for fourteen years. While we have made gradual progress throughout those years, today's announcement is our most significant step yet. This updated guidance is a critical component in the fight for expanded LGBTQI+ rights," said Quigley. "While the previous guidance was in place, I heard from dismayed constituents who were forced to watch tragedies occur in their own community and yet were unable to lend a helping hand. Now, many will no longer be turned away. I am grateful to the FDA for this long overdue change that will both mitigate discrimination and increase the U.S. blood supply when tragedy strikes, but I also recognize that there is still progress to be made."

The FDA's new guidance dictates all donors undergo an individual risk assessment, regardless of gender or sexual identity. This method of screening donors heeds the call to base risk assessments in science and will be applied to all donors equally. One provision in the new guidance includes a ban on blood donation by people taking PrEP. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. While the new guidance removes some long-standing barriers to blood donation, this restriction for those taking PrEP may curb the positive impacts of this update. Director Marks acknowledged this obstacle in a conversation with Quigley this morning, and is hopeful that a full review of the Assessing Donor Variability and New Concepts in Eligibility (ADVANCE) Study may allow the FDA to refine this restriction. Quigley plans to work closely with the FDA concerning this provision.

In 2009, Quigley led his first letter on blood donation restrictions, and since, has engaged with the FDA on this issue over 35 separate times. In response to the Pulse nightclub shooting, where there was an urgent need for blood for LGBTQI+ community members who were injured in the attack, Quigley introduced the Science in Blood Donation Act of 2020. In 2021, he was an original cosponsor of a resolution expressing that the United States' blood donation policies be equitable and based on science. That same year, Quigley led five of his colleagues in sending a letter to the FDA Commissioner stating their strong support of the ADVANCE Study. The ADVANCE Study sought to collect new data and modernize the science to ensure that these outdated policies can be safely and finally overturned.