Duma considering gay blood donation ban

The Russian State Duma is considering a gay blood donation ban, said vice chairman of the Committee for Sciences and Science-Intensive Technology Mikhail Degtyaryov.

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"We are proposing amendments to the Law on Blood Donation, to the relevant Health Ministry order and to the list of contradictions to blood donation, returning the ban of homosexuals to it," he said at a press conference in Moscow on Monday.

This is not a discriminatory measure. Sixty-five percent of HIV-infected patients are gay men, he said.

The State Duma is also considering an initiative "on voluntary and anonymous consultations with psychologists, psychotherapists and sexologists at state expense for many who want to get back to normal heterosexual life 95-99 percent of Russian citizens live," Degtyaryov said.

He said gays' exclusion from the list of persons banned from donating blood would be "a subversive act."

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