Petition · past parliament

Remove the outdated restrictions on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.

Rejected 16 signatures

What the petition asks

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Blood plasma is needed for research.
However, men who have sex with men (MSM) are banned from donating blood by a blanket 3 month ban.

The ban is based on stigma and outdated information, and stops men from helping research and save lives.
Earlier this month, GLADD released an open letter from 500 scientists and medical professionals directed to the FDA to remove their donation bans.
https://www.glaad.org/blog/open-letter-fda-medical-professionals

The rules are based on a stigma of the 1980s AIDS epidemic.
Times have changed since then. The UK has a relatively small number of HIV positive people and of that only 53% of that are MSM.(2017)
https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/western-central-europe-north-america/uk

Why it was rejected

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

Timeline

25 Apr 2020 Petition opened for signatures
6 Jul 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 16
Status Rejected
Rejected 6 Jul 2020

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