More gay and bisexual men can now give blood


More people than ever can now give blood and save lives thanks to a change in the laws surrounding blood donation that came into effect on 14 June 2021.

On World Blood Donor Day, governments in England, Wales and Scotland changed the controversial blood donation restrictions that disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men. 

From 14 June, everyone who attends a blood, plasma or platelet donation session will be asked whether they have had a new sexual partner in the last three months regardless of their sex or gender. This means that the discriminatory question: “Are you a man who has sex with another man?” will be removed from the eligibility interview for blood donors along with the three-month blanket ban that these people would have faced previously.

This historic change - which has fittingly been introduced during LGBTQ+ Pride Month - means that everyone who wants to give blood will be asked the same questions to make sure that their blood is safe for transfusion. Gender-neutral questioning allows for a more individualised risk and behavioural-based approach to blood donations. This not only increases the safety of the UK’s blood supply but also helps to save more lives. 

The FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) steering group, which includes NHS Blood and Transplant, Public Health England, Nottingham University and a range of stakeholders including LGBT+ groups, has pushed for this change in legislation. The group’s recommendations are evidence-based and a result of thorough reviews of current epidemiological literature and observed data in donors and the wider population. 

Previously, men who have sex with men couldn’t give blood if they had a new or several sexual partners because of their believed vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 

A lifetime blanket ban on blood donation was introduced for this group because of the rise in HIV and Hepatitis B cases that affected them in the 1970s and 1980s. It was only in 2011 that this ban was lifted and men who had not had sex with men for the last 12 months could give blood. In 2017, this 12-month deferral period was reduced to three months. 12 weeks was set because recent infections sometimes do not show up on blood screening tests. 

The LGBTQ+ community and charities like Freedom to Donate have been campaigning for this change because these restrictions were based on stigma and discrimination. And, with the HIV Commission targetting the end of new cases of HIV in the UK by 2030, gay and bisexual men pose no extra threat of infection than the rest of the population who have anal, chemsex (intercourse under the influence of drugs except cannabis or Viagra), or sex without a condom. 

Although this is a great leap towards a wholly inclusive blood donation scheme, discrimination against members of black communities who wish to donate still exists. Despite the introduction of gender-neutral questioning, a three month deferral period still stands for those who have a ‘partner who has, or may have been, sexually active in parts of the world where HIV/AIDS is very common’, this legislation makes direct references to areas of Africa. 

The independent FAIR group and The Government’s own independent advisory group on blood SaBTO (Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs) recommended the removal of this question alongside the other changes coming into force on 14 June. Wales and Scotland removed these lines of criteria, but England did not. You can read more about this on Terrence Higgins Trust’s website.

In September, NHS Blood and Transplant have plans to only require a person’s assigned sex at birth upon registration compared to every time they go to a session. This aims to prevent discrimination against trans people when they donate. UK blood services need to know a person’s sex assigned at birth because some blood products are safe to manufacture from the blood of donors assigned male at birth but not from those assigned female at birth.

If you want to find out more about the new blood donation eligibility, visit NHS Blood and Transplant and read the FAIR group’s executive summary

Find out more about who can donate blood: https://my.blood.co.uk/KnowledgeBase

Information contained in this Articles page has been written by talkhealth based on available medical evidence. The content however should never be considered a substitute for medical advice. You should always seek medical advice before changing your treatment routine. talkhealth does not endorse any specific products, brands or treatments.

Information written by the talkhealth team

Last revised: 16 June 2021
Next review: 16 June 2024