Israel removes ban on gay men donating blood; Health Minister comes forward & sets example

Almost two months after Israel scrapped the discriminatory rule that banned blood donations by gay men, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz donated blood in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The enthusiastic minister took to the microblogging site to upload a photograph of him while donating blood. "For the first time! After we finally lifted the ban on blood donation for gays, I came to donate myself. I filled out the MDA questionnaire, from which we removed any reference to sex or sexual orientation, and everything went smoothly, " wrote the Health Minister, who is also part of the LGBTQ community, reached to Magen David Adom compound in Jerusalem to donate his blood.  

While speaking to Jerusalem Post, Horowitz said there is "no difference between blood and blood" and added that "the ban on gays donating blood was the remnant of a stereotype that should be left in history." It is worth mentioning that Israel, being a Middle East country, is most liberal for LGBT+ rights along with Jordan and Bahrain. In August, the country scrapped the discriminatory rule that banned blood donations by gay men and termed the decade-old practice as "discriminatory" and "denigrating".

Read the tweet of Israel health minister here:

Israel health minister says the path wasn't easy 

Apart from changing the laws for the LGBTQ community, the country's health ministry had made modifications in the applications that need to be filled prior to the process. “For years we have tried to get rid of [the restrictions] and now we have finally succeeded," the health minister had said after the ministry changed the law. In its modified application, it included a clause preventing contributions from people who "had high-risk sexual relations with a new partner or multiple partners" for the next three months. Moreover, in the view of COVID-19, the ministry said that the LGBTQ community could freeze their blood in order to avoid transmission of diseases. 

Association for LGBTQ hails decision of Israel gay blood donation

Notably, Jerusalem made changes in the law after Britain announced to amend the laws that bar gay people from donating blood. The same trend was followed by the United States last year. Hailing the landmark decision, the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel issued a statement saying, "Ending discrimination in blood donations is a historic step for the gay community and for Israeli society on the way to equality." It continued, "The blood of hundreds of thousands of citizens is not second class.” The organization acknowledged Horowitz’s decision calling it one of the most significant one, which eliminates stereotypes toward the gay community that are obsolete.

Image: Twitter/@NitzanHorowitz