A friend who has hemochromatosis (the condition where excess iron is absorbed and accumulates in the body) says that, once diagnosed, he cannot donate blood; he has to have blood removed periodically (the procedure is the same as blood donation), but the blood cannot be used for transfusions (not sure about research or other use). Presumably, they only want "altruistic" donors, rather than those who have other motivations to donate blood, since the latter people may lie on the questionnaire about disqualifying conditions (travel to malarial areas, etc.).
That is unfortunate since even the National Institutes of Health say blood from hemochromatosis patients is perfectly safe:
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2001/nhlbi-25.htm
Blood donors with hemochromatosis, a disorder in which iron accumulates in organs and body tissues, do not pose a greater risk to blood safety than other donors, according to the results of a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and published in the September 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Hemochromatosis patients are treated with periodic phlebotomies or "blood letting" to remove excess iron from their body. Because these patients benefit medically and financially by giving blood (they don't have to pay for phlebotomy), there has been concern that they might donate despite having infectious disease risk factors and that their blood might be less safe. As a result, FDA regulations have not promoted blood donation from hemochromatosis patients.
"Hemochromatosis patients in this study had no more risk of transmitting viral infections than did other donors. This finding should help guide future decisions on blood donations by these patients. If people with hemochromatosis qualify as donors then that could potentially have a significant impact on the national blood supply," said NHLBI Director Dr. Claude Lenfant.
Due to differences in physiology and eating habits, men are much less likely than women to have low iron, but are much more likely than women to have iron overload.
For pre-menopausal women, yes, the risk of accumulating iron is lower ... for post-menopausal women the risk is the same.