Many countries have laws, regulations, or recommendations that effectively prohibit donations of blood or tissue for organ and corneal transplants from men who have sex with men (MSM), a classification irrespective of whether they identify themselves as bisexual or gay. Some prohibitions depend on the specific same-sex sexual practices or whether the sex takes place in a monogamous relationship, while others do not. Temporary restrictions are sometimes called "deferrals", since blood donors who are found ineligible may be found eligible at a later date. However, many deferrals are indefinite meaning that donations are not accepted at any point in the future, constituting a de facto ban.
Such prohibitions are generally in place due to the higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men. Since 1982, the risk for HIV infection transmitted via transfusion has been almost eliminated by the use of questionnaires to exclude donors at higher risk for HIV infection and performing screening tests with highly sensitive equipment to identify infected blood donations. According to the 2015 surveillance report by Canadian Blood Services, the risk of HIV transfusion-transmitted infection was fairly low: in 1 in 21.4 million donations. Contaminated blood put haemophiliacs at massive risk and severe mortality, increasing the risk of common surgical procedures. People who contracted HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion include Isaac Asimov, who received a blood transfusion following cardiac surgery.
HIV/AIDS
In many high-income countries HIV is more prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM) than among the general population.
In the United States the population most affected by HIV includes gay, bisexual, and other MSM. Of the 38,739 new HIV diagnoses in the US and dependent areas in 2017, 70% consisted of adult and adolescent gay and bisexual men. Although approximately 492,000 sexually active gay and bisexual men are at high risk for HIV, there are more tools to prevent HIV than ever before.
Proponents of the lifetime restriction defend it because of the asserted risk of false negative test results and because the MSM population in developed countries tends to have a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection. The UK government advisory committee, SABTO, stated in 2013 that "the risk of transfusion of HIV infected blood would increase if MSM were allowed to donate blood". In July 2017 however, the UK government reduced the one year deferral window to three months, to take effect in the following months, resulting from SABTO's updated conclusions that "new testing systems were accurate and donors were good at complying with the rules". Furthermore, NHS Blood and Transplant are in the process of investigating how possible it is for MSM, depending on the degree of risk, to donate without even the three-month deferral. NHS has said that there is currently a limited amount of data on effective ways of conducting such risk assessments and that the initial steps of scoping, evidence gathering and testing will potentially take up to two years to complete.
Current situation Restrictions vary from country to country, and in some countries, the practice of protected sex or periods of abstinence are not considered. The restrictions affect these men and, in some cases, any female sex partners. They do not otherwise affect other women, including women who have sex with women. With regard to blood donation, the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) enforces a three-month deferral period for MSM and women who have sex with MSM. In Canada, the deferral period for MSM blood donors was decreased to 3 months in June 2019. Meanwhile, for tissues such as corneas, the MSM deferral period is five years in the United States and 12 months in Canada.
List of countries with their stand on MSM blood donors
This list shows countries that had restrictions on blood donors. Most national standards require direct questioning regarding a man's sexual history, but the length of deferral varies.
Country Deferral for MSM Deferral for femalesex partners of MSM Albaniadata-sort-value="0" data-sort-value="0" Argentinadata-sort-value="0" data-sort-value="0" Australiadata-sort-value="0" data-sort-value="0" Since April 20, 2026 gay and bi men who are monogamous as a condition can donate blood without any deferred period - similar to the UK, USA and Canada. Gay and bi men not monogamous have an immediate minimal deferred period of 6 months. Since July 14, 2025 gay and bi men can donate plasma without any deferred period. Gay and bi men on any Prep medicine still have a 1-year deferred period. Austriadata-sort-value="0" data-sort-value="0" A 1-year deferral was implemented following the publication of standardized donor history questionnaire in December 2019. Previously, there was an indefinite ban on donations. In December 2019 this was changed to a 4-month deferral period for blood donors.