Australian LGBTIQ+ advocacy group just.equal have welcomed the UK’s decision to lift the ban on gay and bi+ male blood donors, and call for action at home. This week the UK Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs made the recommendation that all donors be assessed for individual risk, rather than exclude […]
LGBTIQ equality advocates continue to push for Australia’s federal, state and territory governments to lift the celibacy requirement for gay, bisexual and transgender people who want to give blood. National advocacy group, just.equal, has written to all Australia’s health ministers asking how they responded to the proposal made by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in […]
Western Australian Health Minister Roger Cook has confirmed to OUTinPerth that he has asked the WA Health Department to review the waiting times for gay and bisexual men to donate blood. “The McGowan Government pursues excellence in care across all treatment disciplines, and for all members of the community. I have asked the Department of […]
Advocates have highlighted the results of a new study which shows many gay & bisexual men (GBM) who are seeking to give blood choose not to, rather than abstaining from sexual contact for 12 months. The study, funded by the Australian Research Council and published in Transfusion peer-reviewed journal, concluded that there is a “high level of […]
LGBTIQ+ advocates have launched a new campaign that hopes to remove the historic ban on gay and transgender people donating blood. Just.equal and PFLAG are encouraging supporters of a non-discriminatory blood policy to write to Australia’s health ministers who are currently considering changes to existing blood donation policy. Just.equal spokesperson, Rodney Croome, says the current […]
Australian LGBTIQ+ advocates continue to urge the government to lift the ban on blood donations for men who have sex with men, asking to shift the focus from gay sex to unsafe sex. The Australian Red Cross’ blood service Lifeblood has announced the blood donation governing body, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has agreed to reduce […]
Australia’s health ministers have agreed to bring forward a review of the rules that prevent men who have had sex with other men (MSM) from donating blood. Currently MSM are banned from donating blood. To be eligible gay men must abstain from sex for 12 months. The longstanding rules were developed when there was concern […]
The Victorian government will call on all Australian states to lift the ban on men who have sex with men from donating blood at today’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting. Under the current rules men are prohibited from donating blood if they’ve had sex with another man within the last 12 months. The ban […]
French authorities will end blanket bans on donating blood for gay and bisexual men. The bans, which are a relic of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, prevented any male who has sex with other men from ever donating blood in the country. The Netherlands recently took similar action, ending their discriminatory policy just […]
The Australian Greens are calling for a review of the long-standing deferral period which disallows gay men and men who have sex with men to give blood for 12 months after engaging in sexual activity. The party’s LGBTI spokesperson Senator Robert Simms says he has written to Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson calling for the […]
