France Just Lifted Homophobic Blood Ban on Men Who Have Sex With Men
The Local.Now, potential blood donors will have to report if they are undergoing treatments related to HIV prevention. They will also be asked about their recent sexual activity and drug use.
However, questions will no longer include asking potential donors about their sexual orientation, the outlet reports.France follows Italy, Hungary, Brazil, Spain, and several other countries that have all lifted their bans.The L’Interassociative lesbienne, gaie, bi et trans, one of France’s leading LGBTQ organizations, praised the removal of the ban.“Imposing a four-month period of abstinence on homosexuals wishing to donate blood is totally absurd and has always been seen as a form of discrimination, especially when we know that donations are in short supply,” the organization's spokesperson Matthieu Gatipon-Bachette told Le Parisien.“There must obviously be a health safety framework to respect, but it must not be based on the sexual orientation of the donor,” he continued.“The extreme vigilance of the health authorities allows for a change in the conditions of access to blood donation,” Jérôme Salomon, France’s Director générale de la Santé, one of the Directorate-General of the French Ministry of Health departments, said.
He added that the risk of transmitting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by transfusion “has been falling steadily for decades.”Despite this fact, many countries continue to have laws, that prohibit donations of blood from gay or bisexual men.
In the United States, for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforces a three-month deferral period for men who have sex with men and women who have sex with queer men.LGBTQ+ rights activists have called for the policy in the U.S.
