Canada will lift restrictions that have prevented some gay and bisexual men from donating sperm by eliminating questions about recent anal sex from its screening process.
Health Canada, the federal department responsible for national health policy, said that beginning this fall, potential sperm donors will no longer be asked whether they have recently had anal sex with a new partner or multiple partners. Instead, all donors will be rigorously tested for infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Supporters of the change argue that asking whether a donor has engaged in anal sex does not accurately measure risk because it fails to account for condom use or preventive medications such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The screening questions also did not distinguish between donors with new or multiple partners and those in monogamous relationships with HIV-negative partners.
“The Government of Canada is committed to making sure that sperm and ova donation policies are safe, non-discriminatory and based on scientific evidence,” Health Canada said in a statement emailed to CBC Radio.
Before 2024, Health Canada prohibited sperm donations from men who had sex with men during the previous three months, on the grounds that they were at higher risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Women seeking to donate eggs were also asked whether they had sex with men who had sex with men.
A Toronto man identified as Aziz M. sued Health Canada in 2023, arguing that its donation restrictions were unconstitutional and discriminatory.
While Aziz M.’s lawsuit continued to work its way through the courts, Health Canada ended its blanket ban on donations from men who have sex with men in 2024. It replaced the ban with behavior-based screening questions about anal sex with a new partner or multiple partners.
Aziz M., who began donating sperm in 2014, before he was out or sexually active, has helped a family conceive a child. He calls it a “wonderful experience” that has “enriched my life immensely,” but said he was determined to end what he considered discriminatory restrictions on gay and bisexual sperm donors.
Although receptive anal intercourse is considered a risk factor for acquiring sexually transmitted infections, three medical experts who submitted affidavits in Aziz M.’s lawsuit said Health Canada’s screening and testing process is thorough enough to detect potential infections.
As part of the screening process, every sperm donation is tested for infectious diseases when it is collected, quarantined for at least 180 days, and tested again before being released for use. That period exceeds the so-called “window period” — typically a few weeks — during which HIV or other bloodborne infections may not yet be detectable in an infected donor.
“Current HIV testing methods are highly sensitive and accurate, such that there is effectively no residual risk associated with current testing methods,” Dr. Mona Loutfy, a Toronto-based infectious disease physician, wrote in an affidavit filed in the case.
Emily McIntosh, executive director of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, noted that the current testing process is “quite rigorous,” while assessments of sexual behavior rely on the assumption that people are “answering all questions truthfully or to the best of their knowledge.”
CBC Radio cited research published last year in the journal Transfusion that found behavior-based questionnaires ineffective for screening blood donors — whose screening and testing process closely resembles that used for sperm donors — because participants may not disclose their full sexual histories or may omit relevant information about their sexual practices.
McIntosh noted that allowing more people to donate sperm could expand Canada’s small pool of eligible donors. Sperm may be donated only altruistically in Canada, where compensating people for donating genetic material is illegal.
Bennett Jensen, legal director of Egale Canada, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said the previous sperm donation restrictions unfairly singled out men who have sex with men without a scientific basis.
“I think it comes down to the humanity, recognizing the humanity of queer people,” he said. “The queer community has dealt with these kinds of stereotypes, discrimination, bigotry over the history that we have existed. And I think that it’s an important message to Canadians that you know were all deserving of participating in the creation of families.”
A 20-year-old Brooklyn smoke shop employee has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally stabbing gay professional dancer O'Shae Sibley at a Midwood gas station in 2023.
Last month, a Brooklyn jury found Dmitry Popov, who was 17 at the time of the stabbing, guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime for killing the 28-year-old Sibley during an altercation fueled by anti-gay animus.
Popov was also convicted of second-degree menacing, second-degree aggravated harassment, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. But he was acquitted of the most serious charge, second-degree murder as a hate crime.
According to evidence presented at trial, Popov and two friends encountered Sibley and his friends at a Mobil gas station on July 29, 2023, and began harassing them for dancing and voguing to music while filling up their car. Sibley and his friends were returning from a day at the beach.
The three youths hurled homophobic and anti-Black slurs at the men, telling them to "Get that gay shit out of here" and mocking their appearances and effeminate mannerisms.
One Million Moms is incensed over a campaign encouraging people to learn about injectable PrEP, a long-acting form of medication to prevent transmission of HIV.
The conservative group claims that a ViiV Healthcare television ad promoting injectable PrEP and featuring RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage aired on TV Land, a Paramount-affiliated network that typically broadcasts decades-old sitcoms.
OMM is outraged that an ad promoting ViiV Healthcare's "PrEP Wisdom" campaign aired on a channel "known for providing nostalgic, wholesome, and familiar comedy shows without the need for edgy programming." The group claims that the campaign "primarily targets individuals at risk of HIV, including members of the LGBTQ community," whom it associates with extramarital sex.
HIPS is warning residents after a recent spike in drug overdoses across the District.
The Washington, D.C.-based LGBTQ-affirming harm reduction nonprofit posted a warning on Instagram urging residents to take precautions to avoid overdoses, particularly during the July Fourth holiday weekend. The organization also cited the ongoing heat wave and poor air quality, warning that both can increase the risk of overdose.
Cyndee Clay, HIPS' executive director, told Metro Weekly that the organization has seen an increase in nonfatal overdoses across the District, according to data from the DC Department of Behavioral Health, which is based on reports from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
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