Corneal donation cures blindness. Gay men should be allowed to help.

Some forms of blindness can be cured through corneal transplant surgery, but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned corneal donation by any “man who has had sex with another man in the preceding 5 years.” This policy was first enacted in 1994, at a time when there were no reliable tests for HIV. However 27 years later, all corneal donors in the United States undergo 3 separate HIV tests that are reliable within just a few days - far shorter than 5 years. This FDA policy is based on outdated science from 1994, not current evidence.

Corneal transplant is a surgery that replaces the front layer of the eye: the cornea. If a person’s cornea is cloudy, scarred, or deformed, it can cause severe visual impairment or even blindness. In corneal transplant surgery, a patient’s diseased cornea can be removed and replaced with a healthy cornea from an organ/tissue donor. Unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of donated corneas around the world, depriving millions of blind people of the opportunity to see again.

We need help raising awareness about this discriminatory policy and applying pressure on the FDA to update this decades-old policy using current evidence. Click the link below to learn how you can help.