The FDA is marbles

From a good but uncitable source:

The American Red Cross's policies regarding who is able to donate blood, much to many people's surprise, do not allow gay men or transgendered women to donate blood, even if they are HIV negative. Other "high risk" groups may donate, but for any man or transgendered woman who has had sex with a man since 1977, the answer is no. Those individuals are banned from donating blood for life. The problems with this policy are multiple, but one of the most pressing is the urgent need for blood. Indeed, the Red Cross and the American Association of Blood Banks have of late attempted to move toward a non-discriminatory policy, but the ultimate arbiter is the Food and Drug Administration, a governmental administrative agency that has thus far been resistant to change. The FDA's stance is counterintuitive insofar as it excludes hundreds of thousands of healthy individuals, while the organization is in dire need of blood.

Further reading.