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In brief
- A change in rules has paved the way for thousands of blood donations to Australian red Cross Lifeblood from the LGBTQI+ community.
- Gay and bisexual men can now donate plasma without a waiting period, provided they meet all other eligibility criteria.
Every time Erol Dalkic prescribed blood transfusions to his patients, he was acutely aware that he himself might never have the opportunity to participate in this vital, life-saving process.
However, on Monday, Dalkic donated whole blood for the very first time, thanks to a pivotal change in the donation guidelines by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. This change in policy opens the door for thousands of LGBTQI+ individuals to contribute to blood donations.
“Growing up in the 90s, in the shadow of the devastating HIV and AIDS pandemic, people like me were often stigmatized as having ‘dangerous’ bodies,” Dalkic shared with the Australian Associated Press.
“For us, this marks an incredibly significant moment, making us feel more integrally included within society,” he expressed.
As of Monday, men will no longer be required to disclose whether they have recently engaged in sexual activity with other men when completing pre-blood donation questionnaires.
Instead, all donors will be asked the same sexual activity questions regardless of gender.
This will allow more gay and bisexual men and transgender people who are in monogamous, long-term relationships to give blood, with modelling showing Lifeblood could receive up to 20,000 extra donations per year.
Those who aren’t in these relationships will still be able to donate plasma after Lifeblood in July lifted a ban on donations from gay and bisexual men, and transgender women.
‘We’ve been waiting so long to help’
Dalkic and his long-term partner Graham August have made 15 donations each since the change and formed a donation team, Fruit Juice, to support other members of the LGBTQI+ community who also want to take part.
“We like the term spiteful altruism because we’re doing the right thing, we want to contribute, but it’s also a ‘screw you’ because we’ve been waiting so long to help,” August told AAP.
“This is our community saying: we’re here, we’ve been waiting, look at all the good we can do.”
Previously, rules stopped many from donating plasma if they had sex with men in the previous three months.
For August, who had watched his father donate blood more than 300 times, being barred from following in his footsteps felt wrong.
“It hurt, it felt like I was being excluded and not by any choice of mine,” he said.
“Seeing my dad doing all that, seeing other members of the community doing it and now being able to do it myself feels correct.”
Gay and bisexual men, and anyone who takes the HIV prevention medication PrEP, can now donate plasma without a waiting period, provided they meet all other eligibility criteria.
This followed extensive research and modelling showing there would be no impact on the safety of donations under the change.
“We would like to acknowledge all of those that have waited years to be able to donate,” Lifeblood executive director Cath Stone said.
“We wait for the right science and evidence and then we make changes at the appropriate time.”
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