Blood service apologizes for ban

Gay, bisexual men were barred from donating until 2022

Canadian Blood Services says it has apologized to LGBTQ groups for a past policy that banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

The ban was in place until 2022, when it was replaced by new rules under which all donors are asked the same questions about their sexual behaviour.

The blood-donor service said CEO Graham Sher apologized to LGBTQ community members in person at an event in Ottawa Friday morning.

Sher said in a release the group regrets that the policy contributed to discrimination, homophobia, transphobia and HIV stigma.

At an afternoon press conference, Sher said the apology was directed at those who were prevented from donating, the broader LGBTQ community and Canadian Blood Services employees, including those who were put in a position of having to defend the policy to their own communities.

“This is something that we at Canadian Blood Services have been working toward for many years now, and one that many within the (LGBTQ) community have been waiting for for a long time,” he said.

Egale Canada, which was part of the Canadian Blood Services LGBTQ advisory committee, said Friday the apology was a historic moment, but also long overdue.

The group said in a press release the policy “arose out of the fear and scientific ignorance that predominated during the tragic AIDS epidemic and the associated tainted blood crisis of the 1980s.”

“Egale has long been declaring that this is wrong, and advocating for the acknowledgment that a person’s identity does not put them at any greater risk for a sexually transmitted infection, rather, it is their behaviour that determines their risk.”

Under its current policy, Canadian Blood Services asks all donors if they have had new or multiple sexual partners within the last three months.

Those who report having anal sex with a new partner or multiple sexual partners must wait three months before donating.