Gays may soon donate blood in France
Since 1983, gay men in France have been banned from donating blood - a precautionary measure since they have been classified as a high-risk HIV group. From the spring of 2016, this ban should be phased out. With this, France's President François Hollande is replacing what he had promised in 2012 during the election campaign.
"To donate his blood is an act of generosity, of civic engagement, which must not be limited by the sexual orientation," said the French Minister of Health Marisol Touraine the decision. It is the end of a taboo and discrimination, she told the daily Le Monde.
However, the change in the law is not revolutionary, because a homosexual man only gets permission to donate blood if he has not had sex for 12 months. Gay men who have a stable relationship or who have not had sex for four months may only donate blood plasma. This will then be quarantined for two and a half months.
The end of the discrimination has not been reached
If it turns out after this first test phase, that the blood donations of homosexuals are safe, the restrictions should be relaxed from 2017. Although the organization "SOS Homophobia" welcomes the end of the "systematic exclusion" of gay and bisexual men from blood donation, it criticizes the fact that discrimination based on sexual orientation still exists.
The background
In April 2015, the European Court of Justice declared a general exclusion of gay men inadmissible. The reason: The health protection of blood donation recipients can be secured by new HIV detection techniques or by questioning the donors.
By the way, in Germany homosexuals are still not allowed to donate bloodbecause they are considered an HIV risk group. Even prostitutes and heterosexuals, who often change their sexual partners, are excluded from the blood donation.
