RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – When he tried to donate blood, administrator Rodrigo Benício Costa saw the initiative become an embarrassment.
“They also asked if I was a homosexual. When I said yes, I didn’t have to answer the questionnaire anymore. I was discarded from that answer on”, he says.
An ordinance of the Ministry of Health and a resolution of the National Health Regulatory Agency banned donations from homosexual men with an active sexual life. The understanding was that this raised the risk of blood contagion from sexually transmitted diseases.
“We asked the donor if he had had sex with men in the last 12 months. So if he were to tell us that he had, we would guide him to try to donate again a year after his last sexual intercourse,” says Edivânia Ferreira, coordinator of the donor attraction service.
In May, the Federal Supreme Court ruled this decree unconstitutional.
Ceará was the first state to comply with the STF’s decision, which recognizes that there are no risk individuals, but rather risky behaviors and, regardless of sexual orientation, all who wish to do so may donate provided they undergo the standard clinical screening.
“It is a constitutional right that has been violated for many years, rendering this right to save lives, to donate blood unconstitutional,” says Brenda Vlasaki, municipal councilor for the CMD of LGBT Rights of Juazeiro do Norte.
Lucineudo, married five years ago to another man, was finally able to fulfill his desire to donate blood and save lives.
“This donation, today, represents a struggle, a result of much resistance and a fight for a more equal society, one that understands that we are equal regardless of our sexual orientation”, celebrates Lucineudo Irineu, university professor and researcher.
Source: G1