Bundestag ends blood donation ban for homosexuals and raises age limit

Homosexual men should no longer be excluded from donating blood across the board. With the votes of the traffic light coalition, the Bundestag decided on Thursday to amend the transfusion law accordingly. It is now expressly stated there that sexual orientation must not be taken into account when deciding on a possible exclusion.

The blood donation restrictions for homosexuals date back to the time of the AIDS crisis. This was due to the concern that gay men were particularly at risk of passing on the virus by donating blood.

The measure has long been criticized; Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) recently described it as discrimination. "Whether someone can become a blood donor is a question of risky behavior, not sexual orientation," he said.

The traffic light parties had already agreed in their coalition agreement to end this practice. "There is no scientific reason for this discrimination," emphasized SPD MP Heike Engelhardt. "It's a shame that people in 2023 are still struggling with such disadvantages and prejudices."

According to the new regulation, blood donors may in future be excluded "only on the basis of the respective individual sexual behavior of the person willing to donate", but not solely because of group membership or the sex of the sexual partner.

According to the directive of the German Medical Association, which has been in force up to now, men who have sex with men may only donate blood if they have not had sexual intercourse with "one new or more than one sexual partner" in the past four months. For all other people, on the other hand, this barrier has so far only existed with "frequently changing partners". With its vote, the Bundestag is now obliging the German Medical Association to change this guideline.

With the change in the law, the previous maximum age limits for donating blood will also be abolished. Until now, first-time donors – depending on the region – were only allowed to be around 65 years old. For repeat donors, the upper limit was mostly between 70 and 75 years. In the future, a doctor will instead assess the individual's suitability to donate.