Exeter students welcome end to gay blood donation ban
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| Picture from NUS website |
The Students’ Guild and LGBTQ Society join the NUS LGBT in praising the removal of the ban which permanently prevents men who sleep with men (MSM) from donating blood.
Gay and bisexual men can now become blood donors after Monday, 7 November if they have not had anal or oral sex for at least one year, even if a condom is worn.
Government ministers decided to lift the ban after a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of the Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto) found the ban was no longer defensible.
The Students’ Guild supports the scrap of the ban, but warned that the one-year deferral period for MSM donating blood is still discriminatory.
Emma Payne, Students’ Guild Vice President Welfare and Community, said: “We welcome the decision to end the lifetime ban - it is a great success for the NUS LGBT.
“However we find it disappointing that the lifting of the lifetime ban is followed with a twelve month deferral period. The one-year ban does not differentiate between men in a long term relationship, and those who have had multiple partners and therefore is still very prejudiced against a large proportion of homosexual men.”
The NUS LGBT are delighted progress has been made towards eliminating discrimination and the perception of HIV and AIDS as a “gay disease” after five years campaigning for the end to the ban on MSM donating blood.
They now seek government justification for the one-year deferral period.
Vicki Baars and Alan Bailey, NUS LGBT officers, said: “Ending the lifetime ban has been a key objective of the NUS LGBT campaign and we welcome the government’s action on this. Donating blood is a responsibility - one in which low risk MSM should be able to exercise without fear of prejudice or discrimination.”
“We are disappointed that the Government has chosen not to publish research to support its decision to introduce a one year deferral for MSM donating blood. It is absolutely critical that organisations such as the NUS working together with the LGBT community have the opportunity to look at and properly analyse the research used to justify the deferral period.”
The University of Exeter LGBTQ society also supports the end to the ban.
Andrew Kidd, a third year undergraduate and member of the society, said: “I think lifting the lifetime ban on MSM donating blood is a positive step towards ending discrimination. It may have seemed inconsequential, but the ban fostered a misleading view of the homosexual community.”
IB
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