Lesbians celebrate end of blood donation ban

Lesbians in the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenyang and Wuhan are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the end of a ban that prohibited lesbians from donating their blood.

Lesbians in the four major cities of China are donating their blood to city hospitals, posting their blood type certificates on their micro blogs and wearing cards on their clothes announcing their pride in being gay.

On July 1, 2012, the Ministry of Health changed its policy that had prohibited homosexuals, since 1998, from donating blood. Lesbians were allowed to donate blood, although sexually active homosexual men are still banned. The ministry at the time imposed the rule over fears that homosexuals were spreading the HIV/AIDS disease.

Ma Tiecheng, a Beijing-based gay rights activist, called for a complete lift on the ban restricting gay people from donating their blood.

"Compared with a total ban on blood donation by gay people, it is more reasonable to specify a specific period of time after sex between men," he said.