Wednesday, March 16, 2022 will undoubtedly remain forever engraved in the memory of Erwann Le Hô. “I was the first from Nice, even the first homosexual in France to give blood that day”confides not without pride the Azurean, whose father who has just turned 70, was a historical blood donor. “Today, because of his age*, he can no longer give it away. I’m taking up the torch in a way.”
All the old questionnaires in which you had to fill in your sexual orientation have been thrown away and replaced by other, more “neutral” ones. However, when he finds himself in front of this sheet, the Niçois plunges back twenty years back, when he wanted to give his blood and he was asked to leave …
A traumatic experience, but the Riviera is not resentful, all that matters is to save lives.
“Don’t try to come back”
“I did not know that homosexuals could not be donors”, he begins. It was full of good will that he then went to one of the French blood establishments (ESF) in Rennes. “I sit in front of a woman who opens my file and closes it just as dryly”. The young man who lived at the time in a stable relationship with his companion is amazed.
“Don’t try to come backbarked the nurse. Even if you come back lying about your sexual orientation, it won’t work. You’re stuck”she blurted out.
He remembers coming out “in tears”. If this misadventure damaged him a lot, it also forged him. “She was one of the driving forces behind my activism”, he explains. Since 2016, Erwann Le Hô has been the president of the LGBT Côte d’Azur center and carries out numerous actions in favor of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
His goal: “to work in the interest of our communities, their health and to fight against discrimination, for a benevolent and emancipatory society”. This is his credo. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think of others.
progress against hiV
In 1983, at the start of the AIDS epidemic and the tainted blood scandal, homosexual men were no longer allowed to donate blood. It is only in 2016 that they will be eligible again, but on condition that they have had no sexual relationship in the 12 months preceding the donation. In 2019, four years later, the abstinence period is lowered to 4 months, even for men with a stable relationship.
A criterion that does not apply to heterosexuals or lesbians, unless they have had risky behaviors, such as a recent relationship with several partners or if they are drug users. For many, this is considered discriminatory, but not for Erwann who considers that “the important thing is the maximum safety of the recipients”.
He judges “these necessary levels. And if today homosexuals can donate blood, it is thanks to this fight against HIV and STIs (sexually transmitted infections, editor’s note) which continues. In the Paca region alone, contamination fell by 40% between 2015 and 2018″.
A new selection criterion
No more reference to sexual orientation in the questionnaires, but a new criterion has been added. The donor must indicate “if he takes treatment for pre or post-exposure HIV prophylaxis, in which case the donation will be postponed four months later”can we read on the government website.
The Ministry of Health justified this choice, which should be changed, by explaining that “the prophylaxis is very effective” most “that it is prescribed in the event of risk-taking”.
But also because“we cannot yet measure whether the treatment hides the virusadds Erwann. But I remain confident, because research will show that they are from healthy donors, because this treatment is revolutionary. It’s another step to take.”
Before the start of the summer, Erwann will give his blood again and will do so as much as possible*.
*Any adult, and up to 70 years old, can donate blood if they are in good health and if their weight is greater than 50 kg.
*During the course of a year, a maximum of 24 samples is authorized per donor, all types of donation combined.