Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

HEALTH

Germany to lift restrictions on gay blood donors

Germany will amend its guidelines for donating blood so the same rules apply to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.

Published: 10 January 2023 16:32 CET

A sign for

A sign for "Blutspende" (blood donation) in Kiel's Landeshaus in October 2022. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Molter

Official guidelines will be adapted so that potential donors are no longer assessed differently based on their sexual orientation, Karl Lauterbach told the RND broadcaster.

“Whether someone can become a blood donor is a question of behavioural risk, not sexual orientation,” Lauterbach said.

“There must also be no hidden discrimination on this issue,” he added.

According to current guidelines from the German Medical Association (BAK), men who have sex with men are only allowed to donate blood if they have not had “a new or more than one sexual partner” in the past four months.

Other people are assessed on whether they are “frequently changing partners”.

The rules date back to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, when gay men were thought to carry a higher risk of passing on the virus.

Under the new rules, potential donors will be assessed only on the “basis of the individual behaviour of the person willing to donate”, according to RND.

An amendment to the law will come into force on April 1st, after which the BAK will have four months to come up with new guidelines, the report said.

The German Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) welcomed the plans, calling them “long overdue”.

Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, a health expert for the liberal FDP party, said the previous guidelines were “not only out of date, but simply discriminatory”.

“Anyone who wants to donate blood should be able to do so. Because donating blood saves lives,” she said.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

'I knew it would happen': Iranian mum suffers abuse after winning Miss Germany

“I knew I would get a bit of blowback, but not like this,” Schoenauer, 39, told AFP.

Many of the hateful messages aimed at her over her looks and ethnicity after her coronation in February were “superficial”, she said.

But it was also her unconventional profile that drove her to sign up for the contest.

“I took part in Miss Germany because I wanted to change something,” said Schoenauer, an architect and mother of a toddler, who moved to Germany aged six.

It was after the birth of her daughter that Schoenauer decided she wanted to do something to be more of a “role model” for young girls.

Schoenauer’s own roots were a source of inspiration.

The images of “strong Iranian women, taking to the streets every day to fight for their freedom” after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 moved her to do something, Schoenauer said.

A wave of protest erupted in Iran after the death in custody of the 22-year-old, who was arrested by the morality police for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women.

Besides being an architect, Schoenauer is the founder of the Shirzan network — “lion woman” in Farsi — which campaigns for women’s rights.

Most Iranians, she said, were “proud” to see her crowned Miss Germany.

“They gain hope from the fact that, as an Iranian woman, you can make a difference in a different country where you grew up and have lived for more than 30 years.”

Assert yourself

Since being overhauled in 2019, the Miss Germany pageant is less about waist measurements and looks, and more about the character and achievements of the contestants.

The most recent edition of the competition, which is not linked to the Miss Universe contest, also lifted the upper age limit, opening up to older women.

The angry response online to Schoenauer’s coronation showed that her campaign “could not be more important than it is right now”.

Attacking her for the way she looks or her background was “very sad”, Schoenauer said.

“If they have the courage, they should sit down at a table and talk to me constructively,” she said.

“But when someone hides behind their screen, behind an anonymous name… I don’t waste my energy on this.”

After getting a degree, Schoenauer said she had a shock when she stepped into the male-dominated world of architecture.

“I learned what it means to assert yourself, to battle through as a woman in a man’s job and then also as an Iranian woman, as a migrant.”

Schoenauer said her mission as Miss Germany was to “inspire young women to become the best version of themselves” whatever their story.

“You can never forget about your origins, but you have to look now to your future to do the best you can,” she said.

By AFP’s Claire MORAND

Url copied to clipboard!