No exclusion of gay and bi men from COVID-19 plasma trial
Campaign content
Join us to call for the discrimination in blood plasma trials to end.
Across the UK people are coming together to support the fight against coronavirus by joining the UK’s blood services trial which uses antibodies from people previously infected who have recovered.
The right thing to do is to allow anyone who is able to donate safely to do so, no matter who they are. But the trials adopt existing discriminatory rules that ban sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating.
Participants in this trial will already be subject to individual risk assessment related to when they had the virus and if they have recovered. An individual sexual behaviour risk assessment could therefore be used, rather than a blanket ban, to assess gay and bisexual men's participation.
We all have a part to play in stopping this virus. We call on Health Ministers from around the UK to act to end the discrimination that will mean not all of us can.
UK Health Ministers,
Stop the discrimination against gay and bisexual men in the COVID-19 plasma trials.
In 2017, when the deferment period for gay and bisexual men to donate blood was reduced from a year to three months, Governments across the UK committed to consider introducing an individual risk assessment, rather than a blanket ban, for sexually active gay and bi men.
This trial will require an individual risk assessment for COVID-19, and therefore should also include an individual risk assessment for gay and bisexual men, not a blanket ban.
More ways to take action today!
Justice for Carol: Stop lesbophobia in Brazil!
Carol Campelo, a 21-year-old lesbian, was brutally murdered in Maranhãozinho, a town in the Northeast of Brazil. Sign the petition to fight for justice.
Argentina: Justice for lesbian hate crime victims
Help seek justice for victims of a horrific lesbophobic attack in Argentina. Demand legal action now!
Meta: Stop hate speech against LGBT+ people!
Meta is normalizing harmful speech against LGBT+ people on Facebook and Instagram. Sign the petition to demand Meta reverse these changes!