The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability will hold hearings next month to determine whether it is safe for gay men to be blood donors. If a green light is given by the committee, the approval will then trickle down to the Department of Health and Human Services, which regulates the FDA.

The FDA has stood firm on its ban for the last 27 years, stating that, as a group, gay men carry an increased risk of HIV, Hepatitis B and other infections that can be transmitted by transfusion. The FDA announced that: "Men who have had sex with men since 1977 have an HIV prevalence (the total number of cases of a disease that are present in a population at a specific point in time) 60 times higher than the general population, 800 times higher than first time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than repeat blood donors."

There is also a particular area of concern surrounding the "window period" following a recent infection of HIV, when there is not enough of the virus in the blood to guarantee its detection.

In March of last year, the American Red Cross along with other blood groups, voiced its stance about the lifetime blood donation ban for gay men. The groups suggested that the ban be replaced by a deferral of at least 12 months following male-to-male sexual contact, which would give enough time for the window period to elapse. Since there have been such great advancements in detecting the virus within one month, this move could remove the need for a ban for life.

The FDA still seems unwilling to budge until there is more scientific evidence. It is steadfast in the fact that HIV tests are not 100 percent accurate.

Folks are also up in arms, with many stating that the ban is discriminatory. In response to those who are outraged at the policy the FDA issued the following response on its Web site: "Scientific evidence has not yet been provided to FDA that shows that blood donated by MSM (men who have sex with men) or a subgroup of these potential donors, is as safe as blood from currently accepted donors."

The FDA went on to state that it remains "willing to consider new approaches to donor screening and testing, provided those approaches assure that blood recipients are not placed at an increased risk of HIV or other transfusion-transmitted diseases."