Reference Source

Men Who Have Had Sex With Men (MSM) — can I give blood? (American Red Cross (US))

What is the waiting period for Men Who Have Had Sex With Men (MSM) — can I give blood? (American Red Cross (US))?

For Men Who Have Had Sex With Men (MSM), waiting period is no waiting period; condition is individual donor assessment regardless of gender or sexual orientation implemented Aug. 7, 2023; outcome is individual assessment; blood service is American Red Cross (US), recorded from its source on 2026-08-06.

This change eliminated previous FDA eligibility criteria based on sexual orientation, which restricted sexually active gay and bisexual men from giving blood.

redcrossblood.org, retrieved 2026-08-06

no waiting period
How long you must wait before donating (or the age/weight bound), exactly as this blood service prints it — the passage it comes from is quoted on the record page. National services genuinely disagree on the same criterion; check the service you would donate with.
Sourceredcrossblood.org
Verified
Review by
DatasetBlood donor deferral criteria compared across national blood services
Criterion
Men Who Have Had Sex With Men (MSM)
Blood service
American Red Cross (US) our reading
Waiting period
no waiting period
Condition
individual donor assessment regardless of gender or sexual orientation implemented Aug. 7, 2023
Outcome
individual assessment our reading

Values marked our reading are our classification of what the source says — the source does not print them in those words. The quote below is the evidence for each one; judge it yourself.

Source

Last verified against source: . Due for re-check by . This page as Markdown · OKF bundle · full dataset as JSON.

Can I give blood if…?Find how long you have to wait before donating — and which blood service says so.