Gay Catholics today accused the president of Portugal's blood donation institute of holding some pretty old fashioned prejudices on blood donations from homosexuals.
In the opinion of the Catholic homosexuals association, for any increased risk from those engaging in risky sexual bahaviour, whether homosexual or not, the solution is not a ban on blood donations but an improvement in quality control.
The president of the Portuguese Institute of Blood and Transplants (IPST), Hélder Trindade, said the to the Parliamentary Committee on Health that a man having had sex with another man will be excluded from making blood donations, adding that the Institute only accepts blood from gay donors if they are in a ‘sexually abstinent’ phase.
Following the statements, the Rumos Novos association for gay Catholics said that it questioned the head of the Institute on the situation where there is an established male partnership, akin to a heterosexual marriage, pointing out that these people should not just be referred to as 'men who have sex with men.'
"We cannot but regret the latest ideas from the President of the Institute who rejects scientific knowledge and approaches the situation with the most backward and conservative views, like some in the Catholic hierarchy," states the association.
In the opinion of Rumos Novos, for there to be an increased risk among people with risky sexual behavior, whether homosexual or not, the solution is not a ban on blood donations but rather an increase in the quality control of donated blood.
Rumos Novos stresses that the ban on homosexuals giving blood for the reasons stated would be an invitation for donors to lie, which potentially could lead to a an increase quality control problems.
On the issue of abstinence, the association states that this theory is reminiscent of 'some conservative Catholic positions that welcomes the sinner but not the sin, or even those of the Catechism of the Catholic Church where homosexuals are 'invited' to remain chaste.'
In the Parliamentary Committee meeting, the president of IPST said the Institute does not make any discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, but on the basis of sexual practice.
"The sexual contact of men with men is defined as a risk factor," said Hélder Trindade, displaying precisely the prejudice referred to by Rumos Novos.
Meanwhile, Left Bloc MPs have asked the Government if it still has full confidence in the President of the IPST in the light of MEPs from the Communist Party having sent a question to the European Commission on discrimination in Portugal of homosexuals giving blood donations.
