Since 1983, The Food and Drug Administration has prohibited gay men from donating blood.

Specifically, any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is banned for life from donating blood.

The same lifetime ban is in effect for anyone who has ever injected illegal drugs or had sex in exchange for money or drugs.

The reason is AIDS.

Back before the ban, there were a number of cases in which individuals became infected with HIV, the precursor to AIDS, through transfusions of contaminated blood.

There was widespread fear among the ...

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