UPDATE:  Today The Department of Health announced that as of November 7th 2011 the lifetime blood ban on gay and bisexual men will be lifted BUT instead replaced by a 12 month deferral period.

While this means men who once experimented years ago or just “tried it to see” will be able to start giving blood again, which is great news HOWEVER it does mean that the millions of gay and bisexual men who, just like their straight counterparts have physical and sexual relationships, will have to continue to face the stigma of being branded a high risk, dangerous and by default, HIV positive. This of course is not what Project Negative and many, many others think.

So boys, just as long as you never have sex, protected or otherwise with any other man and have done so for more than a year then you’re free in the eyes of the NBS and the Government to give blood…..what great news this is…..NOT.

The fact that gay or bi men practising purely safe sex by using protection still cannot give blood means we are less equal than heterosexual men and women. They, heterosexuals, protected or otherwise, can continue to freely give blood.

So you can see that there is still much to fight for.

Discrimination needs to be stamped out.

Sign the petition, started by Tom King, which we support here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/301