Is The FDA Taking Steps To End The Queer Blood Ban

Each week HuffPost Queer Voices, in a partnership with blogger Scout, LGBT HealthLink and researcher Corey Prachniak, brings you a round up of some of the biggest LGBT wellness stories from the past seven days. For more LGBT Wellness, visit our page dedicated to the topic here.FDA Calls for Public Comments on Eliminating Queer Blood BanThe Food and Drug Administration called for comments on changing the policy that men who have had sex with other men within the past year cannot give blood. Queer men used to face a lifetime ban on giving blood, and many say the FDAs recent one-year ban does not go far enough in reducing the barrier (and anti-LGBTQ stigma).Is Transgender Identity a Mental Disorder'The World Health Organization is considering changing its classification of transgender identity from a mental disorder, which some says reinforces stigma and creates a barrier to care, to a condition related to sexual health.For Trans People: Is Distress Caused by Inside or Outside Factors'A study of transgender individuals in Mexico City seems to bolster the WHO proposal noted above. Researchers found that the distress and social problems faced by trans individuals were caused by violence and rejection, suggesting that gender identity-related distress may be caused by society and not some inherent part of the transgender experience.Discrimination Linked to Drug Abuse Among Queer Men, Mental Health Disorders Among WomenResearchers found that queer men who had experienced discrimination faced three times the odds of having a drug use disorder compared with other queer men. Among queer women, having experienced discrimination doubled ones odds of having a mood or anxiety disorder.Bisexual Teens Have Highest Pregnancy RatesIn a new analysis of the ADD Health study researchers found bi women had 1.7x the odds of having a teen pregnancy as compared to heterosexual women. Researchers suggest pregnancy prevention efforts be tailored particularly for the bi community.Trans Equality Championed at Democratic National ConventionActivist Sarah McBride made history as the first transgender person to speak at a presidential convention last week. McBride noted several policy priorities that could improve health equity: a national nondiscrimination bill, measures to reduce violence against trans people of color, and an end to the HIV epidemic that disproportionately burdens transgender women. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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