The Wales Green Party is pleased to hear that the Welsh government is relaxing the ban on men who have sex with men donating blood, from 12 to 3 months.
However, a lot more needs to be done. The fact who a person has sex with is still determining whether they can donate blood or not, is appalling in modern Wales. While this is a step in the right direction, we need to aim for full equality.
Previous Welsh Green Pride spokespeople; Andrew Creak and Adam Smith spearheaded the campaign on this issue which resulted in this reduced ban. The campaign included an online petition that Adam Smith and Pippa Bartolotti, Deputy Leader of the Welsh Green Party, handed into the Senedd almost two years ago.
Andrew Creak, Co-chair of Wales Young Greens and previous Welsh Green Pride Spokesperson said "We are happy with the result of our blood ban campaign that started two years ago, however we still do not have equality, but we are happy to see a step in the right direction and hopefully one day sexually active gay people like myself will be able to donate our healthy and clean blood"
Ash Jones, the current Spokesperson of Welsh Green Pride has said "I am proud of the work that we at Welsh Green Pride have achieved in this campaign. This is a victory for all men who have sex with men, and we have pushed Wales one step closer to equality for all."
We in the Wales Green Party are all happy to see this step towards equality, we look forward to seeing it realised fully in the future.