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
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• BLOOD DONATN: RULE CHANGE MEANS MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN N GIVE BLOOD
• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY
• CANADIAN BLOOD SERVIC NOW ALLOWS SOME GAY, BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE PLASMA CALGARY, LONDON, ONT.
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• WHY N'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD?
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN UTAH N GIVE BLOOD UNR PANY’S LOOSENED RTRICTNS

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. Begng Monday, gay men sexually active, monogamo relatnships for at least three months n donate for the first time.

THE GAY MEN WHO N DONATE BLOOD THE UK 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. NEW l have e to place so that more gay and bisexual men n donate blood.

CAN GAY MEN GIVE BLOOD THE UK? BRISH LAW ON LGBT PEOPLE GIVG 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. For the first time four s, gay and bisexual men will be allowed to donate blood Utah. Durg a prs nference Wednday afternoon, ARUP Blood Servic ma the announcement, makg the first donor center the state to accept donatns om the gay muny.

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

“The are excg chang to the guil that have historilly impacted gay and bisexual men for four s.”. 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.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

The Food and Dg Admistratn has dropped all rtrictns specific to gay and bisexual men donatg blood, a move long anticipated by public health experts and gay rights new guidance, first proposed January and falized Thursday, will not rtrict donatns based on someone's sexual orientatn or genr inty, and stead move towards an "dividual risk-based" approach to rce the risk of accintal HIV fectn through the blood donatn FDA origally banned donatns om gay and bisexual men the midst of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis. For example, the HIV epimic has spread far beyond gay and bisexual men, wh women acuntg for roughly 1 5 new HIV diagnos the Uned Stat, acrdg to the most recent CDC data available.

Peter Ch-Hong, an fect disease specialist at the Universy of California, San 2015, the FDA relaxed an outright ban on donatns om gay and bisexual men, but the 2015 guidance asked men to absta om sex for at least one year before Thursday's falized guidance, every prospective donor will be asked about their sexual history wh the past three months -- regardls of their sexual orientatn. ""The FDA's cisn to follow science and issue new remendatns for all Amerins, regardls of sexual orientatn, who selflsly donate blood to help save liv, signals the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, " Sarah Kate Ellis, the print and CEO of GLAAD, said a statement, however, took issue wh one part of the updated remendatn, which urg ferral for anyone takg HIV meditns -- cludg people who are HIV negative who are takg meditns lled PrEP to prevent ferral perd uld ntue to erect barriers to LGBTQ blood donors, she said. Image source, Getty ImagBlood donatn l for gay and bisexual men are beg relaxed across the UK, what the ernment is llg a "landmark change".

"'More work to do'Campaigners have weled the relaxatn of of the sexually active men claimed the three-month le for all men who have sex wh men was "rooted ep homophobia" Spibey, founr of FreedomToDonate, said his group has been mpaigng for the rtrictns to be updated for more than six years and they "warmly wele" this announcement. Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia.

BLOOD DONATN: RULE CHANGE MEANS MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN N GIVE BLOOD

'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022. Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife.

The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage". 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. 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.

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.

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

”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.

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

”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. 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 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.

WHY N'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD?

"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. 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. 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.

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

“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.

”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.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN UTAH N GIVE BLOOD UNR PANY’S LOOSENED RTRICTNS

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. 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.