In December 2015, members of the LGBTQ+ community celebrated a civil rights victory when the United States Food and Drug Administration updated its blood and plasma donation regulations to allow gay and transgender donors. Under the agency’s new recommendations, transgender people could self-identify their genders on donor questionnaires and men who have had sex with men could donate blood if they had been celibate for a year.

Kate M., who is a transgender woman, remembers feeling excited when she heard the news. However, already years into the transition process, she didn’t think she would be stopped from donating blood under the FDA policy.

But during a trip to donate plasma at the Grifols Biomat USA Center in Ballard on June 26, Kate said she was “bluntly reminded that this is not the case.”

Kate, who requested that her last name not be published for privacy concerns, claimed she was turned away from donating plasma at a Grifols clinic in Ballard because she is trans.

When a medical assistant reviewed her medical history, Kate says the assistant made a note of the fact that she was taking estrogen.

“Oh, so you were born a boy?” the medical assistant allegedly asked.

After Kate explained that she is trans, she says the Grifols assistant began addressing her as “sir” and used “he” and “him” pronouns to address her. The assistant then asked if Kate ever had sex with another man “as a man.” When Kate told the assistant it had been years since she had, the assistant referred to the FDA’s old recommendations prohibiting men who’ve had sex with men, referred to as "MSM" by the FDA, from donating blood or plasma, Kate alleged.

Although Kate repeatedly explained that the federal agency changed its MSM policy and allowed trans people to self-report their gender, she claimed the Grifols assistant refused to hear her.

“Every piece of identification I showed them says ‘female,’” Kate said. “I was dumbfounded. I went home and I lost my mind. I fell apart.”

Despite talking to the clinic manager and a representative from Grifols’ corporate headquarters on the phone, Kate said she has yet to hear an apology from the center.

Grifols officials “are aware of what happened in Seattle,” but won’t comment on the incident for legal reasons, said Vlasta Hakes, Grifols’ director of public affairs.

Hakes maintained the company “does not discriminate against transgender donors” and “aims to treat everyone with respect and dignity regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

“Being lumped under the MSM rule was traumatic, and in a sense invalidated all the work I've done to try and maintain bodily autonomy,” she said. “According to Biomat, I will always be a boy. That's not acceptable."

Kate said she has previously donated blood and plasma through Bloodworks Northwest without incident. A company representative from Bloodworks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kate's claims are not unheard of in Washington State. In 2014, Jasmine Kaiser, who is trans, sued CSL Plasma, a Florida-based company, for discrimination after she was turned away from donation plasma at a Kent, Wash. clinic. Although the plasma center’s representatives claimed they were following federal donation policy, Kaiser sued the plasma center for violating her rights under Washington’s Law Against Discrimination.

A U.S. District Court Judge in Seattle struck down CSL’s claim that federal law permits them to reject donors because of their gender identity. The suit was settled out of court in April.

The FDA’s updated recommendations for the blood and plasma industry cannot “force [clinics] to follow these recommendations, but state anti-discrimination law can serve as a basis” for filing legal suit, said David Ward, legal and legislative counsel for women’s rights group Legal Voice, who served as one of Kaiser’s attorneys.

Many plasma donation centers will also pay clients for their donations. Considering trans people are twice as likely to be living in poverty, barring trans people from donating plasma “[takes] away an important potential economic opportunity, Ward said.

An amicus brief filed by the Washington State Attorney General’s office stated opined in Kaiser’s case that the state’s blood and plasma donation centers are considered “public accommodations,” which must follow anti-discrimination laws, said said Marsha Chien, assistant attorney general with the Washington State Attorney General's Civil Rights Unit.

“As a for-profit business that invites plasma donations from the general public, CSL Plasma's donation centers fall squarely within the [Washington Law Against Discrimination’s] ambit,” the brief stated. “Further, the WLAD's protections are not preempted by the FDA guidelines.”

The plasma company’s policies are more strict than other donation centers because plasma donated at Grifols is used to make medicines that are shipped internationally. Grifols, a U.S.-based company, must comply with other countries’ blood and plasma regulations. Many countries still have blanket policies preventing men who have had sex with men from donating, Hakes claimed.

While other countries may have these policies, blood and plasma donation centers operating in Washington must adhere to state anti-discrimination laws, said Chien.

Kate said she is considering taking legal recourse. She doesn’t want other trans folks to be misgendered or have their gender identity questioned when they’re trying to help others.