Chinese lesbians protest blood ban
July 29th, 2009
Lesbians in China are petitioning the government to remove a rule banning gay men and women from giving blood.
Potential donors are asked their sexual orientation before they can give blood. Anyone who ticks the gay/lesbian box is automatically barred from donating.
A spokesperson for the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center defended the policy on health grounds: “It’s a practical law because the gay community has much higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases. We must take our precautions wisely.”
However, some lesbians in Beijing are protesting the ban, claiming that women – both gay and straight – represent a far smaller risk to blood banks than gay, bisexual and straight men.
540 gay Chinese women have so far signed an online petition against the ban.
“We just hope the authorities respect our kind intention to donate blood and remove the discrimination,” one of the protestors told the China Daily. “I think it’s also what China’s 30 million homosexuals, including 10 million lesbians, want.”
In 2007, 700,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in China, according to official Chinese figures. Many of those living with HIV contracted the virus through hosiptal blood transfusions in the 1990s.
In the UK gay men are permanently barred from giving blood. There is a 12-month ban for men who have had sex with female prostitutes, women who have had sex with men who have had sex with other men, or people who have had sex in countries with high HIV rates.
Italy, Spain and France have all lifted bans on gay men giving blood.
The united states isn’t any better as far as gay rights for ANYTHING!
Cindy ∼ July 29th, 2009 5:50 pm