The gay blood ban – a crique of Atralia’s blood donatn polici - Nichol Fay Law

Contents:

• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY
• SHOULD ATRALIA END RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN DONATG BLOOD?
• 'WE REALLY WANT TO HELP': CALLS TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY BLOOD DONATNS
• OUR BLOG 13 DECEMBER 2021THE GAY BLOOD BAN – A CRIQUE OF ATRALIA’S BLOOD DONATN POLICI
• WHY CAN'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD ATRALIA?
• GAY MEN HOPE RED CROSS BLOOD DONOR WAG PERD WILL BE RCED FOLLOWG LATT REVIEW
• PH TO LIFT GAY BLOOD DONATN BAN AMID SHORTAGE
• UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• ATRALIA HAS OFFICIALLY EASED ITS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?
• ATTUS AND WILLGNS TO DONATE BLOOD AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ATRALIA
• GAY BLOOD DONOR RTRICTNS STOP SAVG LIV

NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY

New Atralian blood donatn l for gay men don’t go far enough, advot sayNew l that change the barriers facg gay men who want to donate blood Atralia don’t go far enough, advot blood donatn l for gay men have e to effect on Sunday allowg them to give blood if they have been celibate for three measure has dramatilly slashed that wag perd om 12 months – which effectively banned gay men om donatg – but advot say still discrimat agast many who would wish to year the Atralian Red Cross’s Lifeblood service announced the l would be changed om January 31, 2021, after a review of s sexual activy ferral new le, which also apply to transgenr people who have had sex wh a man, appli to oral and anal sex – wh or whout a Theraptic Goods Admistratn approved Lifeblood’s plan to cut the wag perd, and to also allow homosexual men to donate plasma and platelets. ”Gay men had prevly been banned om donatg durg the height of the AIDS epimic the 1980s, wh those l lgerg for new change me followg a ph for blood donors durg the COVID-19 panmic, wh MPs Alex Greenwich and Dr Time Read volly supportg the move their rpective stat of NSW and Victoria. “The current ernments of both the Uned Stat and the Uned Kgdom are mted to replacg their gay blood bans wh dividual risk asssment, and ‘s time for Atralia to do the same.

”The study also showed that among gay men who would donate blood, the prevalence of HIV is lower than the general populatn, Mr Croome said.

LGBTQI+ groups have lled for Atralia to change s policy on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men the light of mov other untri to relax July the UK removed s three-month abstence perd for gay and bisexual men donatg blood, and moved to an dividual risk asssment for all donors, regardls of genr or sexual partner.

SHOULD ATRALIA END RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN DONATG BLOOD?

A number of other natns, cludg the Netherlands, Israel, Argenta, France and Germany, have abolished their ban on blood donatns for particular groups sce the panmic began, or plan to do so unr Atralian policy, gay men or trans women who have sex wh men are unable to donate blood if their sexual abstence perd is ls than three months. “Mollg suggts this would actually crease the amount of safe blood available to those need of blood products, ” she ban on gay blood donatns was put place the 1980s when much ls was known about the tectn and transmissn of HIV/ appli to all sexually active gay men, as well as sexually active bisexual men and transgenr women who have sex wh men – cludg those long-term Heiger timated that he donated blood as a teenager more than a dozen tim, before g out as gay.

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. Atralia's blood stocks are expected to drop to their lowt pot sce the start of the panmic after donatns took a nosedive due to the current surge flu s across the untry, as well as lds and pots:There have been a large number of blood donatn appotment ncellatns and no-shows, due to the surge flu sAnyone who is reverg om COVID-19 and wants to give blood should wa for seven days of beg symptom-eeBisexual and gay men, as well as trans women who have had sex wh men the last three months, nnot give blood Atralia, but advot are llg for changeThe Atralian Red Cross Lifeblood needs 17, 500 donors to help raise supply over the next week, wh their stocks of A, O, and B blood groups unr anisatn says will have "two days" of supply left by mid week. "The Red Cross Lifeblood Service is lerally beggg people to donate, yet they're sayg to gay men who are safe to donate, 'We don't want you'.

(Supplied: Ben Dudman)Canada this year removed the ban on blood donatns om gay men, wh the untry's health partment scribg as "a signifint tone toward a more clive blood donatn system" Mister Jt T said the change was long overdue, sayg the old approach was "discrimatory and wrong" Croome said he would like to see Atralia take a siar approach, wh other untri, cludg the Uned Kgdom and France, also implementg a system that asss the dividual risks of every donor. A spokperson for Red Cross Lifeblood said they "unrstood the l would exclu some groups", but that although gay and bisexual men clared monogamo relatnships were low risk, they were "still at a higher risk of exposure than people heterosexual relatnships".

'WE REALLY WANT TO HELP': CALLS TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY BLOOD DONATNS

If you’re a sexually active gay or bisexual man, or trans, you n’t donate blood right now 's nothg and bisexual men were banned om givg blood durg the HIV and AIDS crisis that gripped the world the total ban beme a 12 month celibacy perd a few years later and earlier this year that was rced even further, meang men who have sex wh men now need to wa three months sce their last sexual ntact wh a man before they n Rodney Croome om natnal LGBTQI+ advocy anisatn don't thk there should be any "ferral" perd place at all. "It's an ia beg embraced by other untri around the UK recently announced 's scrappg s three month postponement for gay and bisexual men who have had the same sexual partner for more than three 's beg replaced wh an dividualised risk asssment that would mean anyone who wants to donate blood would be asked qutns about their sexual Croome thks that mak sense. "The overwhelmg majory of gay and bisexual men Atralia don't have HIV and will never have HIV bee we practise safe sex or bee we're monogamo relatnships, " he said.

Rearch rried out untri that have moved towards dividualised risk asssments has found the risk of sexually transmted fectns enterg the blood supply do not UK ernment has hailed what lls a "world leadg, safe optn" that regnis dividuals for the actns they take "rather than their sexual preference" says we need to be seeg siar progrs Atralia bee the current l around blood donatn are damagg to gay and bisexual men. "There's a stereotype of gay men that we're somehow more prone to disease, that we're somehow more likely to be a threat to the health of others, " he said.

"'I felt so small'Daniel Cottier was turned away when he tried to donate blood New South Wal earlier this a gay man, he followed the l and gave up sex three months before prentg for his when he got to the clic he found out that he still wasn't eligible to give blood bee he had taken the HIV preventative meditn PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) wh the last 12 uldn't fd that rmatn on the Atralian Red Cross Lifeblood webse.

OUR BLOG 13 DECEMBER 2021THE GAY BLOOD BAN – A CRIQUE OF ATRALIA’S BLOOD DONATN POLICI

"Daniel later got an apology om Lifeblood and they have updated their webse to make clear that unr the current rtrictns if you are a gay man who PrEP, you have to wa a year sce your last dose before you n donate.

"But Rodney Croome believ the evince is creasgly showg the advantag of rcg rtrictns for gay, bi and trans people and the change would benef more than jt those muni.

In Atralia, this blanket ban on gay and bisexual donatns was revised 2000 to bee a 12-month ferral perd – meang that men who have sex wh men (“MSMs”) had to absta om sexual activy for 12 months prr to donatg blood. It is hoped that the advocy work of this group, njunctn wh Dr Dane’s mollg will ph Lifeblood to unrtake a new extensive review, which may rult the aboln of the gay blood ban. Needl have bee a fact of life for Ben 26-year-old has an hered blood ndn lled haemochromatosis and currently has to draw about half a lre of blood every week to tackle the high iron levels ed by the pots:Atralian men are barred om donatg blood for one year after a sexual enunter wh another manThe Red Cross Blood Service is nsirg fdgs om a review to Atralia's wag perdLast time the service suggted a rctn the wag time, thori knocked backMany people wh the ndn donate the blood they are forced to siphon to the Red Cross Blood bee Mr Henry is gay, his bags of blood are disrd.

WHY CAN'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD ATRALIA?

"For young gay men that didn't grow up the 80s and the 90s when there were ncerns about blood safety, I thk there is a real sense of surprise that the polici exist, " Atralian Feratn of AIDS Organisatns (AFAO) chief executive Darryl O'Donnell said. Figur released this week show HIV diagnos have dropped to an 18-year low, maly due to creased s gay and bisexual drop has been partly attributed to the e of HIV preventn dg PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), which was listed on the Pharmactil Benefs Scheme last year. Countri cludg Italy, Spa, Portugal and South Ai have gone further — scrappg the mandatory ferral untri wh no ferral perd, gay and bisexual men are asssed on their dividual risk — such as multiple sexual partners — rather than sexual orientatn.

Denmark has announced is scrappg the ferral perd for gay men monogamo relatnships and other gay and bisexual men n donate after four months whout Victorian Gay and Lbian Rights Lobby's Dale Park said the rtrictns were troduced at a time of "fear and prejudice" around homosexualy and the ferral perd should be set to three months or ls. Atralian Red Cross Lifeblood is nsirg changg l to allow more gay and bisexual men to donate plasma, but equaly advot are urgg to go further and screen donors on their sexual activy to rce HIV and transgenr people who have sex wh partners signated male at birth are not allowed to donate blood unls they have been celibate for three months and Atralia says is time for this to Buxere wants to be able to donate Flav Branleone“I’ve been wh my hband for 12 years, and I jt don’t unrstand why my blood would be emed as unsafe, ” Thomas Buxere, om the advocy group’s Let Us Give mpaign, told The Sydney Morng Herald and The Age.

“The vast majory of gay men do not have HIV, and some people engagg heterosexual sex do have HIV, ” she NSW Kirby Instute’s most recent HIV surveillance report found that male-to-male sex acunted for 58 per cent of HIV notifitns 2020 wh 365 s, pared wh 155 om heterosexual sex (24 per cent) Dane said while gay men were at higher risk, the overall numbers both groups were low and men who had sex wh men were more likely to get tted regularly. ”LoadgPlasma is the liquid ponent of blood and is ed to make immunoglobul, given travenoly to help people wh ncer or weakened immune systems fight off fectns, and album, ed to treat or prevent shock followg ser jury, bleedg, surgery, or said changg the l applyg to gay and bisexual men for plasma donatn alone “won’t substantially crease the amount of safe blood available or elimate discrimatn” and was an approach Canada had April, the Theraptic Goods Admistratn approved Lifeblood’s requt to lift the ban on almost 750, 000 people donatg blood after livg the Uned Kgdom for six months or longer, put place due to ncerns about the impact of the untry’s “mad w” epimic.

GAY MEN HOPE RED CROSS BLOOD DONOR WAG PERD WILL BE RCED FOLLOWG LATT REVIEW

ClarifitnA prev versn of this story had an HIV notifitn figure that clud gay male traveno dg ers, has been updated to only clu male-to-male sex. Dpe this urgent need for donatns, people who have sex wh gay or bisexual men are still facg rtrictns on their abily to give Food and Dg Admistratn bars people who have had sex wh gay or bisexual men om donatg blood for three months followg the most recent sexual ntact bee of fears of HIV the blood agency changed the ferral perd om 12 months to three months November 2020 as blood donatns fell and hospals faced cril shortag durg the first year of the COVID-19 advot, cludg the Human Rights Campaign, say the FDA is movg too slowly on removg the rtrictn, sayg that 's an outright ban on the abily of people, particularly gay and bisexual men, to donate blood. Rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, who are nsired to be at high risk for HIV or AIDS transmissn, date back to the and bisexual men unrgo dividual risk asssments stead of time-based bans untri around the world, recently cludg Greece and France, acrdg to ternatnal reports.

The event was held to prott feral l that effectively ban gay men om donatg Bispg/Star Tribune via Getty Imag, FILEValant told ABC News a new statement that rearchers are halfway toward s goal of enrollg 2, 000 participants across eight ci: Washgton D. They enurage gay and bisexual men who are 18 to 39 years old to participate the FDA, a statement to ABC News, said that this study uld generate data that will help the agency terme if a donor's dividual risk asssment and qutnnaire would be jt as effective rcg the risk of HIV the blood supply as the time-based ferrals the FDA already has FDA also said do not have a specific timele for when the studi will be pleted but that is "mted to gatherg the scientific data that n support alternative donor ferral polici that mata a high level of blood safety.

After s of harsh rtrictns for LGBTQI+ people who have wished to donate blood, Atralia has fally relaxed s long-standg blood donatn l for gay and bisexual men, as well as those who are transgenr. “The current ernments of both the Uned Stat and the Uned Kgdom are mted to replacg their gay blood bans wh dividual risk asssment, and ’s time for Atralia to do the same. 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.

PH TO LIFT GAY BLOOD DONATN BAN AMID SHORTAGE

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.

UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS

”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. 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 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.

(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.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

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. Qutns on blood donatn histori and attus toward the ferral policy were clud the qutnnaire of an onle prospective hort of gay and bisexual men (GBM) livg Atralia.

Nearly all men dited they were not willg to absta om sex wh another man for 12 months orr to donate, and the vast majory believed the le was unfair, too strict, and homophobic.

ATRALIA HAS OFFICIALLY EASED ITS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

At this time, Atralian stat and terrori also put place legislatn that ma a crimal offence not to disclose to the blood bank a history of male homosexual ntact or jectg dg e.

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

It allowed ernments to monstrate they were takg actn rponse to wispread public fears about HIV, much of which were directed toward gay men. By 2000, Atralian blood donatn regulatns had been changed to allow for donatns by men who had not engaged homosexual sex for 12 months, generally referred to as a ferral perd.

In 2012, a study missned by the Atralian Red Cross nclud that, as the vast majory of blood donors are pliant wh safety regulatns, there would be mimal risks associated wh rcg the ferral perd for homosexually active men to six months.

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

But the unter argument is that placg rtrictns on male-to-male sex reflects discrimatory and misguid attus toward gay and bisexual men – posng them as herently irrponsible and risky. A gay man who has been havg safe sex, cludg wh a monogamo relatnship, is not necsarily at higher risk of acquirg HIV than a woman who has had multiple sexual partners and possibly unsafe sex. The TGA’s unwillgns to rce the ferral perd may be due to ncerns that rcg rtrictns on blood donatn by gay and bisexual men uld unrme public nfince the safety of the blood supply.

But is discrimatory to the extent that rtrictg men who have sex wh men om donatg blood reflects and rerc the perspective that gay and bisexual men are unreliable and require strict laws to regulate their actns – laws that are not applied to other groups. The tragic irony, the the wake of the Orlando massacre, is that many people directly affected by this homophobic hate crime are prevented om offerg help due to regulatns that are place, large part, due to homophobia. In October last year, Israel lifted all rtrictns on blood donatns for gay and bisexual, Hungary, Germany and many other untri have also lifted or eased before givg blood Atralia, if you are male, you have to disclose to the Atralian Red Cross Lifeblood service if you've had sex wh another man the past three months.

ATTUS AND WILLGNS TO DONATE BLOOD AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ATRALIA

I n't, however, bee of the discrimatory blood donor regulatns agast gay and bisexual men our a gay man, I'm allowed to get married, be the managg director of an ternatnal anisatn, and be elected as a Cy of Melbourne uncillor to reprent my muny - but evintly morn Atralia if I donate blood, that's a bridge too ban mak as much sense as a schoolyard bully, and leav my muny feelg jt as bised. Canberran donat blood rerd number of tim at Lifeblood Civic Blood Donor CentreBlood donor COVID revery wa time cutLifeblood rc wa perd for gay men to donate bloodAtralian Red Cross Lifeblood has been actively llg for donatns the face of ternatnal blood shortag.

The current policy stigmatis gay men, and changg is one cril way to crease accs to life-savg blood products now, accs to blood products is more cril than ever.

GAY BLOOD DONOR RTRICTNS STOP SAVG LIV