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Most of these individuals are waiting for kidneys, with livers, hearts and lungs also high on the list.
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“You have an administration in place that’s committed to moving LGBT equality forward, and they’ve also done a lot in the area of HIV/AIDS,” Thompson says.Īccording to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are more than 123,000 people who are on the national waiting list for lifesaving organs.
CAN GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD IN THE UK UPDATE
They are also pushing for a written update on what the department has done to assess donation regulations, as well as an estimate of when possible policy changes will be announced publicly and take effect. The legislators have requested a response to their letter within 30 days. senators and representatives sent a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services saying the donation policies contained “inherent unfairness and inconsistency.” Theletterstated that the current policies “perpetuate inaccurate stereotypes” and “promote discrimination” while not adequately representing the advances made in science and HIV detection. More than 30 years later, huge strides have been made in science and medicine, and it is common knowledge that anyone who has unprotected sex is at risk, not just gay men. This policy was first put in place in the 1980s, at the height of the AIDS crisis. “Clearly that is not treating like risk alike,” said Thompson. In contrast, a straight man who admits to having sex with a prostitute or knowingly had sex with an HIV-positive woman only has to wait one year before being allowed to donate blood. They are allowed to donate tissue only if they have not had sex with other men for five years. They are allowed to donate certain organs after HIV testing, but the transplant program is notified that the organ comes from a deceased man who had sex with other men in the past year.
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“Eligibility standards must reflect current scientific knowledge and must treat like risks alike.”Ĭurrently, gay men face severe restrictions when it comes to donating organs, tissue or blood. “In other words, gay and bisexual men cannot constitutionally be singled out for differential treatment solely because of their sexual relationships,” Thompson told TakePart. Ministers have agreed to let men who have not had sex with another man in the past. More than 60 politicians and LGBT advocates are fighting to revise a very dated federal regulation that disqualifies gay men from donating organs and blood simply because of their orientation.Īccording to Ian Thompson, a Legislative Representative at the ACLU who focuses on LGBT rights, donating blood or tissue may not be a “constitutional right,” but the federal government should not be able to discriminate against a prospective donor based on their orientation. The lifetime ban on blood donations by homosexual and bisexual men will be lifted in England, Scotland and Wales.