Ban on gay men giving blood to be lifted {uk}

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/08/gay-men-give-blood

Gay men will be able to give blood when government restrictions are lifted later this year, the Department of Health has said.

A lifetime ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with another man was put in place in the UK in the 1980s as a response to the spread of Aids and HIV.

But following a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex within the past year will be able to donate if they meet certain other criteria.

The recommendation has been accepted by the health ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, and the ban will be lifted on 7 November.

[MineralMan]

1. So, you have to be celibate?

I'm not sure that's a helluva lot better,frankly.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. It is a step the 'faith based' administration has refused to take.

The US still bans all men who have ever had sex with a man. They will take blood from a heterosexual junkie prostitute, and pay her for it in fact.
Funny how on some days the 'pace of change' is very important, but when real progress is made by other nations which ours refuses to take, well, suddenly it has to be full tilt 100% right now change or it is disregarded? Better to see no progress than to move in the right direction?
The UK is doing something about this injustice, and sorry to say, even this tainted compromise is far, far better than the standing and unchallenged American policy. If only the US could flush their faithish fevers and take even a baby step, I'd feel better about the deep dogmatic prejudices which so many in this nation hold.

[MineralMan]

3. All progress is good. And the US should do this, too.

It's just that it doesn't really open the door very wide for gay men to donate blood. As you say, it's better to have some progress than no progress.