India's ban on gay, transgender people from donating blood: What are the rules across the world?

Blood runs thicker than water goes the famous adage. However, if you belong to the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community, then this adage doesn’t hold true for you. Recently, the Indian government defended its decision to bar LGBT persons from donating blood citing scientific evidence.

The Union Ministry of Health And Family Welfare responding to a PIL filed by a member of the transgender community, Thangjam Santa Singh, said that there is substantial evidence to demonstrate that “transgender persons, men having sex with men and female sex workers are at risk for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C”.

The PIL filed by Thangjam Santa Singh moved the Supreme Court seeking to strike down the prohibition on gay and transgender people from donating blood under clauses 12 and 51 of the ‘Guidelines for Blood Donor Selection & Blood Donor Referral, 2017’ issued by the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) and the National Aids Control Organisation on 11 October 2017.

As the case argues that this prohibition is violative of the Constitution of India, here’s a look at the rules pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community and blood donation across the world.

The US

For decades, the United States barred LGBT persons from donating blood. In the 1970s and 1980s when the AIDS crisis gripped the country, gay and transgender men were completely prohibited from donating blood.

In 2015, what had been a lifetime ban was loosened, such that gay men could be donors if they’d abstained from sex for at least a year. This was later shortened to three months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In January, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the body responsible for all blood donations in the US — announced plans to revise the long-standing blood donation policy. Under the guidelines, gay and bisexual men who are in monogamous relationships would be allowed to donate blood. But individuals, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, who have recently had anal sex with a new or multiple partners would have to wait three months before donating.

FDA Commissioner Dr Robert Califf had then said, “Maintaining a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products in the US is paramount for the FDA, and this proposal for an individual risk assessment, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, will enable us to continue using the best science to do so.”

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest organisation that advocates for LGBTQ rights, had said the FDA proposal was a step in the right direction, but more needed to be done to remove restrictions.

Canada

The US’ neighbouring country has also recently made changes to its blood donation policy. In April 2022, Canada lifted restrictions on gay men donating blood, a move Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said was “good news for all Canadians”.

As per the new rules, potential donors will be asked if they have had new or multiple sexual partners in the last previous months, no matter their gender or sexual orientation. Those who say yes will be asked if they have engaged in higher-risk sex. If they have, they will need to wait three months after such activity before donating blood.

Initially, Canada had a ban on gay men from donating blood, which was put in place in 1992. The donation ban was initially for life, but that policy was first eased in 2013, when men who had sex with men were allowed to donate after being abstinent for five years. That was later eased to the current three month period.

United Kingdom

People belonging to the LGBTQ+ community in England, Scotland, and Wales can donate blood, plasma and platelets. However, conditions apply.

The country’s health agency, the National Health Service (NHS) in 2021 announced that healthy people of any gender or sexual orientation who have had the same sexual partner for at least three months are eligible for blood donation. Previously, gay and bisexual men in England, Scotland and Wales were not permitted to donate within three months of having been sexually active, due to fears around the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other infections.

Germany

The European giant earlier this year announced that it would be changing its blood donation policy. Official guidelines will be adapted so that potential donors are no longer assessed differently based on their sexual orientation, Karl Lauterbach told the RND broadcaster in January.

“Whether someone can become a blood donor is a question of behavioural risk, not sexual orientation,” Lauterbach was quoted as saying. “There must also be no hidden discrimination on this issue,” he had added.

Israel

Israel is another country where a ban forbidding homosexual men from donating blood has been lifted. The new rules state that instead of a question about same-sex physical relations, the questionnaire will simply inform all blood donors to wait three months “after high-risk sex with a new partner or multiple partners.”

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel’s health minister in 2021, who himself is openly gay, had written in a Facebook post that the health ministry had “removed the denigrating and irrelevant questions” in questionnaires for blood donors, and that everyone would be treated equally regardless of sexual orientation.

“There’s no difference between one blood and the other,” he said. “Discrimination against gays in donating blood is over.”

Greece

In January 2022, Greece also lifted its decades-long ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. According to the new rules, the form to be filled by potential donors removed homosexual sex acts from the list of things prohibiting people from giving blood.

The move brought to an end a ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood which was in place since 1977. The previous form for prospective donors stated that any man who has sex with other men is not allowed to give blood.

France

France in 2022 ended its ban on gay men giving blood and stated that gay men would be able to donate blood under the same conditions as heterosexuals, without any reference to sexual orientation or period of sexual abstinence.

The ruling has been a long time in the making. Homosexual men were banned from giving blood in France in 1983 due to the AIDS epidemic. This ban was lifted in 2016, but on the condition that they had not had sex in the past 12 months. In 2019, this was shortened to four months.

With inputs from agencies

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