Petition · past parliament

Allow Gay and Bisexual men to donate blood.

Rejected 13 signatures

What the petition asks

A ban on gay men donating blood was brought in across the UK during the Aids/HIV crisis in the 1980s, but was lifted in November 2011.

Donor deferral for men who have sex with men was changed from lifetime to 12 months but a 12-month ban was kept for men who are sexually active.
Gay and bi men or women should be allowed to donate blood.

Detection of HIV can be found in blood very easily.
Most samples are tested within an hour.
Screening technology has gotten better since 2011.

A huge drop in donors has meant that there's a huge shortage of blood.
The LGBT community would like to step forward.

Most of us know our HIV status.
It would actually be a positive social change within the gay community.
Being able to be screened for HIV at the same time would be great.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

16 Nov 2016 Petition opened for signatures
17 Nov 2016 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 13
Status Rejected
Rejected 17 Nov 2016

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.