Not a world first at all
Yeah I thought the same, since my city did away with the 3-month rule two years ago (there’s still a partner-limit/monogamy requirement last I checked).
Apparently what makes it a “world first” is not that they allow gay donors but that they lifted all sexual activity-based rules (for plasma specifically) which used to reject sex workers, women who slept with bi men recently, and others. The title is just a bit misleading.
Thank you! That always bugged the hell out of me.
Someone actually thought that gays fuck around with everything and everyone but heterosexuals? Naaahh, they would nevah!
Gay men are statistically more likely to contract HIV. Of course, it would be horribly irresponsible and negligent not to test donated blood/plasma for HIV in the first place, so yeah, kinda dumb.
…why was that ban in effect to begin with? I can understand during the 80s, with the misunderstandings of AIDS.
Basically by 1992, this shouldn’t have been a thing.
That’s the answer. It’s institutional homophobia left over from the AIDS epidemic.
