A 23-year-old medical student was prevented from donating blood in Lisbon, Portugal, because he was homosexual.
The young man, whose name was not disclosed, used to donate blood twice a year and was surprised by the discriminatory attitude of the mobile unit of the Portuguese Blood and Transplantation Institute.
According to the student, there are no questions related to sexuality in the questionnaire for donors. However, the doctor who treated him stated that he “could never donate blood again because he is homosexual”.
Before that, the young man was asked if he had sexual relations with more than one partner, even though he refused, the doctor reiterated that he could not be a donor.
When trying to explain that she had already donated blood several times and that she has had the same partner for a year, the doctor again stated that she “couldn’t do anything”, as “those are the rules”.
The case was denounced by the Left Bloc, which in 2010 fought for the approval of a resolution that recommended to the government the end of discriminatory measures against homosexuals and bisexuals in blood collection services.
According to the party, the complaint will serve as the basis for the suspicion that not all blood donation centers correctly comply with the resolution.
