Art Challenge: Create a work of visual art, video, or poetry to share your experiences and emotions about the decades-long MSM blood donation deferral (preventing men who’ve slept with men from donating blood.) Works will be exhibited on the websites and/or social media platforms of the UBI, ACT UP, COLAGE, and GMHC. The work can be in any style or medium of visual art, video, or poetry. People of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to participate!

Due: May 15th, 2021

Registration: form-usa.keela.co/art-exhibition-final

Submissions: form-usa.keela.co/art-exhibition-submission

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Many members of the LGBTQIA+ community are painfully aware of the inequities in the healthcare field, including the decades-long MSM donation deferral. In response to the stigma caused by this deferral, the University Blood Initiative (UBI), a nonprofit dedicated to making blood donation more equitable and sustainable, has created the Advocacy Art Challenge. We want to hear your stories and feelings about the deferral and the stigma it has perpetuated — as well as your hopes for the future. The challenge is to create a work of visual art, video, or poetry in order to share your experiences and emotions and effectively channel art as a medium of advocacy. Submissions are open until May 15th, in anticipation of Pride Month. There will then be an exhibition of the created works on the UBI website and Instagram, as well as on the websites and/or social media of our partner organizations, GMHC, COLAGE, and ACT UP. 

The goal of the challenge, according to its creator, advocacy artist Aaron M., is "to bring awareness to a policy that people draw on to spread stigma and hate and use art as a way to change that to love and inclusivity." We hope this challenge will prompt conversations about stigmas plaguing the LGBTQIA+ community and initiate a long-overdue change.

Since the invention of western medicine, the healthcare system has embedded anti-LGBTQIA+ policies into its DNA. From a severe lack of queer sexual education to performing nonconsensual surgeries on intersex babies, to routinely turning trans people away from the doctor, western medicine has historically failed the LGBTQIA+ population. Though education on LGBTQIA+ bodies and experiences has improved the system for some people, many of the old rules and attitudes still apply, resulting in poor outcomes for LGBTQIA+-identified patients.

One of the most significant failures of the American medical field has been neglecting to research diseases associated with the queer community. In the early days of the AIDS crisis, there was little known about HIV and how it’s transmitted, so, in 1984, there was a ban placed on all “men who have sex with men” (MSM), barring them from donating blood for life. Given that there was, and still is, a higher prevalence of HIV infections among MSM, they were labeled as “high-risk” donors during the AIDS epidemic. At first, this meant that no AMAB individuals who were sexually active with other AMAB individuals could donate. Then, stipulations changed to say that if any AMAB had ever partaken in sexual activity with another AMAB since 1977, even once, they would not be allowed to donate. 

This was quite a long time ago, and there have been many technological advancements since the 70s and 80s, which now allow us to detect exposure to HIV within seven to ten days of infection. Despite this new detection method, the lifetime ban was not changed until 2015, when coalitions of scientists and activists alike argued against it. It was replaced with a year-long deferral, which required MSM to abstain from sexual activity with other men for a year before they could donate.

Additionally, FDA guidelines have now changed, allowing donors to self-report gender. This means that policy no longer defines MSM as AMAB individuals, but rather as anyone who identifies themselves as male on a blood donation questionnaire. However, this questionnaire still only includes male and female options, so while it has become more inclusive for binary trans people, nonbinary people remain overlooked. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. has experienced a massive blood crisis. More than half of the country’s blood donations come from blood drives, thousands of which were canceled due to lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. This has forced many doctors to make difficult decisions and led to many patients not getting the blood they need. In April of 2020, in an attempt to increase the donor pool, the FDA reduced the deferral period for MSM to three months so that more people could donate. This deferral also applies to individuals who identify as women and are sexually active with MSM. While the three-month deferral is an improvement over the twelve-month deferral, it still alienates MSM, as well as others from the LGBTQIA+ community, who often feel alienated by proxy. In addition, the shortened deferral period still asks MSM to stay celibate for three months in order to donate blood, which might not be something that many people are willing to do and can feel like a personal violation. A reduction of the deferral period from one year to three months essentially doesn’t do much to broaden the donor pool or reduce the stigma. 

Activists, scientists, and lawmakers are fighting to replace identity-based deferrals with individual risk-based assessments so that deferrals are based on science, not stigma. That means that instead of asking donors questions that connect to their sexuality, pre-donation questionnaires would ask, “Have you had sex with someone in the past three months whose HIV status you don’t know?” This focuses on higher-risk behavior rather than implicitly tying certain sexual practices to a disease. These questions wouldn't just be for queer individuals; they would apply to everyone. The FDA is currently supporting a study conducted by researchers at the American Red Cross, OneBlood, and Vitalant, aimed at reviewing current blood donation policy and analyzing the feasibility of alternative approaches. 

The revision of outdated limitations is a big step forward, and given recent research initiatives, we are hoping that science can advance enough to make way for more inclusive methods that reflect modern research and progressive thinking, which will help erase the stigma surrounding MSM. The UBI, 14% of whose members identify as LGBTQIA+, has joined this effort by advocating for revised blood donation guidelines and empowering the next generation of young and diverse donors. Since launching nationally in March 2020, we have grown enormously and have contributed greatly to communities through grassroots efforts. We are committed to joining the efforts of the activists, scientists, and lawmakers who are working together to pave the way for more inclusive donation methods and safety regulations. 

Aaron M., for one, is optimistic about the new research initiatives. “The risk-based assessment represents a new future, one in which an individual’s sexual identity doesn’t define who they are or limit their potential to save lives,” he explained in an interview.

If you’re interested in doing more to end the MSM deferral, you can visit the UBI’s website to learn more about the Advocacy Art Challenge, blood donation, and how you can get involved. You can also check out our partner organizations — GMHC, COLAGE, and ACT UP — to learn more about the MSM deferral and how you can help.

Cover print: Rupi