Lesbiansin China are preparing to challenge the country’s blood donation rules that forbid homosexuals from donating blood on grounds of their sexual orientation.
Lesbians, barred from donating blood, seek changes in the country’s ‘homophobic’ health lawsHONG KONG: Lesbians in China are preparing to challenge the country’s blood donation rules that forbid homosexuals from donating blood on grounds of their sexual orientation.
The move follows recent instances, following the May 12 quake in Sichuan, of “lalas” (Chinese slang for lesbians) being turned away from blood donation centres on grounds of their sexual orientation.
“Many lesbians who spontaneously went to donate blood following the (Sichuan) earthquake were turned away when they indicated their sexual orientation, on the ground that homosexuals carried a high risk of AIDS,” notes les+, a Chinese-language lesbian magazine. “Even persons who belonged to rare blood groups were turned away.”
Under China’s ‘health standard’ rules for blood donors, homosexuals and “persons with multiple sex partners” are among a number of categories of the population that are forbidden from donating blood.
The magazine noted that during times of national calamity such as the earthquake, when everyone was reaching out to help victims and save lives in any way possible, “unreasonable regulations have thwarted the homosexual community in their altruistic endeavour.”
Tongyu, a Beijing-based lesbian group, has independently invited lesbians to write in to it with their experience of trying to donate blood for the Sichuan quake survivors. It proposes to collate these stories and call for an amendment to the “homophobic” blood donation rules and end this “discrimination” based on sexual orientation.
Some lesbians have said that when they went to donate blood, they were asked to fill out a questionnaire, in which one of the questions related to the donor’s sexual orientation. “Ignore that question,” one lesbian offers as advice to others. “As long as you’re healthy and don’t have any communicable diseases, it’s really fine.”
Another lesbian in Shanghai said she went to donate blood on May 23, and “lied” about her sexual orientation. Days later, she received a message from the blood bank stating that the blood she had donated had been tested and found good.
Les+ claims that lesbians are not at higher risk of carrying contaminated blood than some other groups in civil society. It cites studies to establish that lesbian sex carried lower risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS and Hepatitis B, than other groups.
The issue has triggered a debate on China’s vibrant cyberspace, with some commentaries defending the ban on blood donation by homosexuals, and others criticising the rule as unworthy of a forward-looking and inclusive civil society.
“The key to ensuring safety of blood is to enforce a programme of strict laboratory screening,” says a homosexual. “In the absence of that, the rule that forbids blood donations discriminates against homosexuals.”
Aid chopper with 14 crashesA military helicopter ferrying 10 people injured in the earthquake with four crew members crashed during a mission in the disaster zone in southwest China as the death toll from the May 12 temblor reached over 69,000. There was no immediate word on the fate of those on board the Russian Mi-171 transport chopper.
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