Sharon Dane News Today

Lifeblood Australia's decision to work towards lifting the four-decade old ban on gay blood donations has been welcomed by LGBTQI advocates. 

Why does Lifeblood and the Australian Red Cross still have blood donation bans on sexually active gay and bisexual men in Australia?

'State ministers are required to sign off on blood donor policy.'

Queensland's Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has called on the federal government to end Australia's four-decade-old gay blood ban.

Exclusive: Shannon Fentiman urges federal government to ‘expedite’ applying individual risk assessments to donors, in line with the UK, Canada and US

Currently, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, and trans women who have sex with men, have to abstain from sex for three months before donating blood, including plasma.

Labor lost one in five LGBTQI voters to the Greens at the 2022 federal elections, a new survey by advocacy group Just.Equal found. 

Lifting the current ban on plasma donation by gay and bisexual men, and trans women and some non binary people who have sex with men, will not solve the problem of Australia's dangerously low supplies of whole blood, says activist.

Equality advocates are urging Lifeblood to screen donors on their sexual activity rather than place a blanket ban on men who are sexually active with men.

Greece has lifted its decades-long ban on queer men donating blood following the signing of a ministerial decree on Monday in the Hellenic Parliament.