"Against this background of huge social change in the cause of equality, it is still forbidden for a sexually active gay man to donate blood. The MP says the ban shows that the "cause of equality still has barriers to break", even after the historic introduction of equal marriage legislation. By contrast, if you are straight but promiscuous with multiple partners and practising unsafe sex, you can. He writes: "If you are a gay man and you have not been celibate for 12 months or more, you are forbidden from donating blood – even if you have been practising safe sex. This was amended in 2011 to prevent gay men who have had sex in the past 12 months from donating blood.įabricant says the ban is discriminatory because a gay man having safe sex is banned from donating blood while a promiscuous heterosexual man having unsafe sex is allowed to donate blood.
Under the rules introduced in the 1980s, gay men were banned completely from donating blood. Safety for the donor and recipient of blood transfusions must of course be respected, but fairness and equality need to be considered too."
The rules on blood donation need to be changed to reflect modern medical science. With outdated, illogical and unequal rules for blood donation, such crises are likely to recur. In an article for the Guardian, Fabricant writes: "In January last year, parts of England and Wales came within three days of running out of a blood group.