The New Zealand Blood Service is reviewing a policy that has been described as discriminatory and archaic.
Gay men are banned from donating blood unless they've abstained from sex for three months which can rule out those in monogamous relationships.
Activists have been on a long journey to scrap the ban which has already been ditched in many other countries.
Warren Dempsey-Coy used to donate his rare O-negative blood but the 80s HIV epidemic put an end to that.
He's been fighting for change ever since.
"It's archaic - I mean it's tiring. I'm getting tired," he said.
Men who have sex with men are banned from donating blood in New Zealand - unless they abstain from sex for three months.
"Why discriminate and actually say because I'm a gay man I can't give blood, I mean I've been in a monogamous relationship for almost 40 years," Dempsey-Coy said.
The policy was initially created to prevent the risk of spreading HIV. But the prevalence of the virus since then has changed dramatically.
"In the last couple of years we've seen the lowest numbers of new cases of HIV in the last two decades," Burnett Foundation Aotearoa CEO Joe Rich said.
Similar donation bans have been scrapped in England, Wales, Scotland and Canada - with the United States pledging to do the same. But not in New Zealand.
In April last year, the Blood Service announced a study to collect local HIV data to help it review the policy. Peter Saxton is leading that investigation called SPOTS.
"I'm hoping in the next three months we can give NZ Blood the data they need that could kick start more conversations, so I can't give a definite date for that," he said.
He said that's because of unforeseen challenges.
"We started during COVID - so it was meant to be a national in-person study but we had to pivot online. So that expanded out the horizon," Saxton said.
The Blood Service says it's awaiting the results before it can make a decision.
But community activist Shaneel Lal is questioning why they're bothering with the local study at all.
"NZ Blood Services has enough international evidence that demonstrates it is absolutely safe to move from a blanket ban to individualised risk assessment," he said.
Once the SPOTS team completes that study they'll be able to pass their findings on to the NZ Blood Service so they can complete their review of the controversial criteria. They'll then pass it on to Medsafe - who'll make the final call.
"I hope that in the next 12 months, we will be able to see a change," Saxton said.
Cautious optimism that change is coming - while Dempsey-Coy's 40-year wait for equality continues.
