Blood donor l to be relaxed for gay and bisexual men England | LGBTQ+ rights | The Guardian

Contents:

• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL
• THE GAY MEN WHO N DONATE BLOOD THE UK FOR THE FIRST TIME
• CAN GAY MEN GIVE BLOOD THE UK? BRISH LAW ON LGBT PEOPLE GIVG BLOOD
• BLOOD DONOR L TO BE RELAXED FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ENGLAND
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?
• I’M 43 – BUT I’M MA TO FEEL LIKE A DOSR BY YOUNGER GAY MEN
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• THE UK WILL LET SOME SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN GIVE BLOOD, ENDG A NTROVERSIAL BAN
• WHY N'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD?
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• CANADIAN BLOOD SERVIC NOW ALLOWS SOME GAY, BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE PLASMA CALGARY, LONDON, ONT.
• BLOOD DONOR L TO BE RELAXED FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ENGLAND

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL

Can gay men give blood? Gay and bisexual men are not tomatilly prevented om givg blood.

Gay and bisexual men England, Stland, and Wal n now donate blood, plasma and platelets unr certa circumstanc whout havg to wa three months, the Natnal Health Service announced this week.

Gay and bisexual men England, Stland, and Wal n now donate blood, plasma and platelets unr certa circumstanc, the Natnal Health Service announced this week a momento shift policy for most of the U.

THE GAY MEN WHO N DONATE BLOOD THE UK FOR THE FIRST TIME

Begng Monday, gay men sexually active, monogamo relatnships for at least three months n donate for the first time. S, the abily for gay and bisexual men to donate blood is still rtricted.

A ban on gay and bisexual blood donors has been effect sce the early 1980s when fears about HIV/AIDS were wispread. Gay uple Osr and Xavier say they feel "proud" about donatg blood for the very first time the now, any male donor who'd had sex wh another man the prev three months uldn't give blood.

The FAIR chang mean that many more gay, bi men and other men who have sex wh men be able to donate blood more easily. S., the Red Cross, along wh One Blood, Valant and partner LGBTQ+ muny health centers, are participatg a pilot study fund by the FDA select ci that uld potentially lead to chang for blood donor eligibily creria for gay and bisexual men.

CAN GAY MEN GIVE BLOOD THE UK? BRISH LAW ON LGBT PEOPLE GIVG BLOOD

NEW l have e to place so that more gay and bisexual men n donate blood. Can gay men give blood the UK? Gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood more easily om next summer followg a landmark policy change, the NHS blood service has announced.

He said “The UK is leadg the way ensurg that blood donatn is more clive and now will allow many more gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men to donate blood.

A lifetime ban on gay men donatg was rced to a one-year abstence om sex requirement 2011.

BLOOD DONOR L TO BE RELAXED FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ENGLAND

(This May 11 story rrects date and time reference for France fal par)LONDON (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - Countri around the world are reviewg rtrictns on blood donatns by gay and bisexual men imposed durg the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, wh some removg blanket bans and others rcg wag perds after gay ’s Supreme Court led on Friday that a 12-month ferral perd for gay and bi men to give blood was unnstutnal, a policy LGBT+ mpaigners had long argued was discrimatory given morn blood-screeng now, Brazil’s ernment will have to treat gay and bisexual men the same as heterosexual men when donatg blood.

It uld wre a new law that restat the ban, but s posn is not yet blood suppli have e unr prsure due to the ronavis panmic, lls have grown for ernments to replace abstence perds for men who have sex wh men to donate blood wh dividual risk-based month, the Uned Stat and Northern Ireland cut their abstence perds, while Atralia said plans to do are the l erng blood donatn by gay and bi men around the world:- Countri that impose lifelong bans on gay and bisexual men donatg blood clu Croatia, Iceland, Malaysia, Slovenia, Sgapore, Tridad and Tobago and Ukrae- At least 17 untri now have no rtrictns, cludg Argenta, Italy, Rsia, South Ai, Spa and, as of January this year, Hungary- In April 2020, the Uned Stat cut s celibacy perd om 12 months to three months amid a blood shortage- Last month, Northern Ireland also rced s ferral perd om one year to three months, brgg to le wh regulatns the rt of the Uned Kgdom- Some untri differentiate between blood products and blood general, but Bra men who have had sex wh another man the last three months and revered om Covid-19 nnot donate their plasma to a ronavis treatment trial- Most untri do not mentn whether takg Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a HIV-preventn dg, affects gay and bi men’s abily to donate blood. Bra says s three-month abstence perd appli regardls of whether someone tak PrEP or not- When Atralia announced s tentn to cut the abstence perd om 12 months to three April, said people takg PrEP would still have a 12-month abstence perd- Atria lifted a blanket ban on men who have sex wh men givg blood, replacg wh a 12-month abstence perd for gay and bi men December 2019- In March, Denmark lifted s lifelong ban, implementg a prevly announced wag perd of four months- France has had a wag perd of 12 months sce 2016, when lifted a ban on gay and bisexual men givg blood that had been place sce 1983Sourc: Thomson Rters Foundatn rearch, RtersReportg by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage and Elsa Ohlen; Addnal reportg by Fab Teixeira; Edg by Helen Popper and Hugo Greenhalgh. That’s why AABB has led efforts to make blood donatn clive of non-bary donors and champned the adoptn of equable, science-based dividual donor asssment (IDA) procs to terme blood donor eligibily that wele LGBTQ+ blood donors, strengthen the blood supply and save Approv Historic Expansn of Donor EligibilyOn May 11, 2023, the Food and Dg Admistratn issued a fal guidance elimatg time-based blood donor ferral perds for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men (MSM) and women who have sex wh MSM.

WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?

The UK will allow some sexually active gay and bisexual men to donate blood, overturng a ban that origated durg the HIV/AIDS epimic of the 1980s and has been cried as homophobic for years.

Rul preventg gay and bisexual men om blood donatn were implemented many untri the wake of the AIDS crisis, wh health agenci argug that they were more likely than other people to acquire fectns through sex. But LGBTQ mpaigners and other groups have opposed the bans, warng that they perpetuate stereotyp about gay and bisexual men and ntendg that wh morn screeng methods, the risk of missg an fectn is small.

I’M 43 – BUT I’M MA TO FEEL LIKE A DOSR BY YOUNGER GAY MEN

The move was received posively by LGBTQ chari, but many prsed for further chang to allow more gay and bisexual men to make potentially lifavg donatns. “This change will help ensure more gay and bi men n donate blood, and reprents an important first step towards a donatn selectn policy entirely based on an dividualised asssment of risk, ” Nancy Kelley, chief executive of the LGBTQ rights group Stonewall, said a statement. “While we wele today’s news, we know much more still needs to be done to tackle the challeng that lead to gay and bi men, along wh other groups of people cludg black Ain muni, sex workers, and trans muni, beg at higher risk of acquirg HIV and other STIs, ” she add.

In 2011 was scrapped favor of a one-year ferral perd which a gay or bisexual donor mt rea om sex, and 2017 that perd was rced to three months.

“Such a ntrast to the attu I met mpaigng at the Department of Health many years back when someone said ‘gays n’t be tsted to tell the tth about their sex liv, ’” Michael Fabrint, a lawmaker wh the erng Conservative party, tweeted. Deborah Gold, Chief Executive of Natnal AIDS Tst, said: “We wele the chang today meang more gay and bisexual men n donate blood safely bee of a more dividualised asssment of risk.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Robbie Santos, Director of Communitns and External Affairs for Stonewall (he/him) said: “We wele today’s historic change, which will help ensure more gay and bi men n donate blood and reprents an important step towards a donatn selectn policy entirely based on an dividualised asssment of risk. Some feel this excln discrimat agast gay and bisexual men, wh the newly elected lear of the Lib Dems Tim Farron pledgg to end the “gay blood ban” is the strength of feelg among some mpaigners that a group lled Freedom To Donate has been tablished to lnch a natnwi mpaign on securg a review to blood donatn group believ that advancements screeng procs and immunisatn levels sce the 2011 12-month ferral cisn was taken mean that is time to review the cisn.

THE UK WILL LET SOME SEXUALLY ACTIVE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN GIVE BLOOD, ENDG A NTROVERSIAL BAN

Almost half of all heterosexual patients who tt posive for HIV are thought to have ntracted the vis outsi the Terrence Higgs Tst timate that around one 20 gay or bisexual men the UK is affected by HIV, and London an timated one eight gay men are livg wh the SaBTO mtee has ncerns about patients rrectly intifyg their own level of risk of HIV or hepatis B. LGBT+ rights around the globeShow all 9Isn’t this discrimatn agast gay and bisexual men? Some feel the excln creria for blood donatn is discrimatory agast gay and bisexual men or MSM, as donors who practise heterosexual activi are not exclud unls they fall unr other excln creria.

However, a gay or bisexual man who actively practis safe sex is exclud. But there is one easily implementable solutn to the natnal blood-supply shortage that’s been available for years and uld be a lifele: allowg gay and bisexual men to donate eely. S., gay and bisexual men (often referred to as MSM, or “men who have sex wh men”) are not allowed to give blood if they’ve had sex wh another man the past three months.

“It is my opn that we ntue to have a real problem wh laws and regulatns based on fear rather than science, ” she ntuatn of a MSM-specific barrier to givg is not only limg the blood supply, ’s unnecsary and “rooted homophobia, ” explas Perry N.

WHY N'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD?

”In 2015, theFDA loosened s rtrictn, permtg gay and bisexual men to donate blood as long as they hadn’t had sex wh another man the past year. For example, if you’re a gay man who wears ndoms durg sex, you lim your risk of ntractg HIV. Same go for gay men who are married or a long-term monogamo relatnship.

Conducted tanm wh the natn’s largt blood centers—the Amerin Red Cross, Valant, and OneBlood—the rearch effort will survey 2, 000 gay and bisexual men across the untry between the ag of 18 and 30 who have had sex wh at least one man the past three months. ”The policy change uld have a signifint posive effect on the mental health of gay and bisexual men, too.

It also puts gay and bisexual men at higher risk for acquirg HIV over time. “Social and stctural factors that e gay men to feel othered e them to engage risky sexual behavr, ” Halkis says. So a ban like this isn’t jt harmful to the Amerin public; “’s credibly harmful to the gay muny, both emotnally and physilly.

LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS

The first step is to sign GLAAD’s petn at You then n—and should—te those around you, “sce many people, cludg gay and bi men, don’t know that this ban exists, ” adds Lasky.

Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty. LondonCanadian Blood Servic is takg the first steps to allowg gay and bisexual men who have sex wh men — which lls the gbMSM muny — to donate blood plasma, startg the tt ci of Calgary and London, agency's prev policy has been lled discrimatory, cludg by men who have sex wh menBlood plasma is the straw-loured liquid ponent left when blood cells are removed om whole blood.

CANADIAN BLOOD SERVIC NOW ALLOWS SOME GAY, BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE PLASMA CALGARY, LONDON, ONT.

Canadian Blood Servic is ttg out s plasma donatn eligibily, London, Ont., and Calgary, for gay and bisexual men who have sex wh men. (Hiep Vu via Canadian Blood Servic)Canadian Blood Servic is takg the first steps to allowg gay and bisexual men who have sex wh men — which lls the gbMSM muny — to donate blood plasma, which is startg two tt ci: Calgary, Alta., and London, marks the first time the agency is openg donatns to gay and bisexual men.

My blood is a rare type and ed to donate regularly before gay men were banned. "Plasma donated by gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men London and Calgary will be ma to plasma prote products when the donor at least 60 days later wh a plasma donatn that tts negative for fect diseas.

It is ed a variety of treatments for rare, life-threateng, chronic and geic years, Canadian Blood Servic has e unr fire for not allowg men who have sex wh men to donate blood, a practice many ll homophobic.

BLOOD DONOR L TO BE RELAXED FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ENGLAND

The agency did not say when would expand the current plasma donatn abily to other centr beyond Calgary and ferral perd drops to 3 months for gay, bisexual men"We unrstand that beg turned away om donatg n leave any donor wh a sense of tratn and disappotment, " the agency said. "We also regnize that the slow pace of chang to donor creria that still exclu many gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men has been paful and tratg for many, and we are workg to create a more clive system.

The UK is leadg the way ensurg that blood donatn is more clive and now will allow many more gay, bisexual and other men who have sex wh men to donate blood.

This change will help ensure more gay and bi men n donate blood, and reprents an important first step towards a donatn selectn policy entirely based on an dividualised asssment of risk. While we wele today’s news, we know much more still needs to be done to tackle the challeng that lead to gay and bi men, along wh other groups of people cludg black Ain muni, sex workers, and trans muni, beg at higher risk of acquirg HIV and other STIs.