Today the “window period” for blood testing is conservatively estimated to be around six to 12 weeks. Technology has significantly improved since the 1980s. It allowed governments to demonstrate they were taking action in response to widespread public fears about HIV, much of which were directed toward gay men. This ban occurred at a time when HIV testing technology was very new and often unreliable due to an extended “ window period” – the lag time between someone contracting HIV and antibodies showing up in a blood test.īut banning gay men from donating blood was also a political move.
