“The ban on gay men, men who have sex with men continued though, after HIV testing was available,” Dr.
Valenti has been on the front lines of the HIV/AIDs epidemic since the very beginning 40 years ago. “There were four years of this epidemic, where we needed to ensure the safety of the blood supply and had no way to figure out who had HIV or not,” Dr. William Valenti is the co-founder of Trillium Health, as well as an HIV and LGBTQ+ healthcare expert. However, some argue it’s still not enough.ĭr. When the law was first enacted, it was a lifetime ban and over time it has softened. Gay and bi-sexual men are legally banned from donating blood due to a law that was created in 1983 during the AIDs crisis. However legally, not everyone in the community is able to donate and it’s not because they don’t want to, but because they’re banned from doing so. They called out to the community asking for immediate donations saying lives are at risk. (WROC) - For the first time ever, the American Red Cross declared a national blood shortage crisis back in January.
