NC's openly gay health secretary celebrates new LGBTQ-friendly blood donation guidelines

North Carolina's top health official made sure to be one of the first gay men in the country to give blood Monday, after new federal rules went into place that allowed him to give blood for the first time in decades.

Kody Kinsley, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said it was empowering to finally be able to give blood again. He used to help organize blood drives as a teenager because he thought it was so important, he said, but has been banned from giving blood himself ever since coming out.

The United States used to permanently ban all gay and bisexual men from ever giving blood, due to fears of spreading HIV. That was later relaxed to a rule that required men who have sex with men to abstain from sex for three months before giving blood. That rule ended Monday.

"There was no reason, other than discrimination," Kinsley told reporters Monday just before sitting down with a Red Cross phlebotomist to for his first donation in years. "And that weight of discrimination is disempowering. It's frustrating. It pushes people apart. It also telegraphs to people in the community that, you know, 'gay and bisexual men are different and risky, inherently, in who they are.' And that's just inaccurate."

Kinsley was joined Monday by his boss, Gov. Roy Cooper, who also donated blood and celebrated the new changes.

Donors are still screened — all answer a series of questions about their behaviors to ensure the blood supply is safe.

"We've made a change that needed to be made for a long time," Cooper said. "Because now the testing that they do screens blood for HIV. We know that blood donations are safe. And we need more people to give it, so this is an important day."

Kinsley said the old rules were never really based in science, just prejudice. He's happy with the new rules, he said, as both a gay man and a public health expert. The rules now only block men from giving blood if they've recently taken HIV prevention drugs, or if they've recently been with new or multiple sexual partners.

The new rules from the federal government were approved in May but only just now went into effect — and Kinsley said it's not a moment too soon. There's a shortage of blood in North Carolina and nationwide.

"Today's a new day, and I just want to invite everyone to join me," Kinsley said. "Roll up your sleeves. Donate blood."