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Cyrus Engerer Fumes At Gay Blood Restrictions: ‘There’s A Feeling Equality Was Only A Facade’

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Prominent LGBT+ rights advocate and former Labour MEP candidate Cyrus Engerer has hit out at the news that gay men will only be able to donate blood if they haven’t had sex for a year.

“Having spoken to a number of gay and trans people over the past few days, it is a pity that most are feeling that equality was only a façade, when in reality policy makers are showing disgust at a gay man’s blood,” Engerer said in a Facebook post. “I know it’s not the case and will continue working to convince on common sense as have done in the past on marriage equality, adoption by same-sex couples as well as trans and intersex rights.”

He said this blood donation policy is based on outdated fears that gay men have a high risk of transmitting HIV, essentially classifying all sexually active gay men in the same ‘unsafe’ category as people who have sex with prostitutes or intravenous drug users.

“A gay man who uses condoms and only engages in oral sex with a monogamous partner will be immediately excluded from donating blood in Malta,” he said. “A heterosexual man who does not use contraception and has many partners is not a priori rejected. Why are we going to ignore objectivity and simply defined people according to their sexual orientation?”

“A low-risk, sexually active gay man who wants to donate blood and is less likely to transmit HIV than his risky straight counterpart will still be immediately turned away in Malta.”

“We need a blood donation policy that evaluates the individual and not his sexual orientation? Why don’t we follow the Spanish or Italian examples, rather than taking the extreme conservative stance? We will also be going more extreme than a number of other European Member States that have a three-month deferral period (which still does not make sense, but is less conservative).”

The policy is the remit of Health Minister Chris Fearne but it has also been backed by the new Equality Minister Edward Zammit Lewis.

“This process was guided by international medical standards and considerations which are in place for blood donation procedures and which are strictly bound to the health and safety of patients,” a spokesperson for Zammit Lewis said this week. “The Ministry will continue to engage with all stakeholders to eliminate all inequalities. Equality for all is imperative.

READ NEXT: Gay Men In Malta Will Only Be Able To Donate Blood If They Haven’t Had Sex For A Year

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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