Did Mexico lift ban on gays donating blood?

If Andres Duque at Blabeando is correct, the answer is yes. That would mean Mexico beat Canada, the USA, and several other countries to putting this old, homophobic, insulting ban to rest.

A little noticed Mexican health norm first approved in August and then published in the country’s regulatory Official Federation Diary on October 26th has gone into effect today essentially doing away with a two-decade ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, reports Animal Político.

…The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in “risky sexual practices” regardless of their sexual identity.

In the new blood donor norms “risky sexual practices” are defined as those that may include “contact or exchange of blood, sexual secretions or other bodily secretions between someone who might have a transmittable disease and areas of another person’s body through which an infectious agent might be able to penetrate.” - Blabeando

This is great news, and I hope Duque is right. It’s pretty well known that nowadays blood is tested extensively for HIV and it’s health before being approved. The United States is always three days away from being in a blood crisis, hopefully this measure will help put pressure on the US and other countries to finally do the right thing.

And in case you hadn’t heard, Mexico’s Supreme Court also ruled in favor of marriage equality in the state Oaxaca.