Blood donations by MSMs

Men who have sex with men are banned from donating blood in 56 countries.

Loading map of LGBT rights...
  • Legal
  • Legal with restrictions
  • Banned (3-month deferral)
  • Banned (6-month deferral)
  • Banned (1-year deferral)
  • Banned (5-year deferral)
  • Banned (indefinite deferral)
  • Varies by region or ambiguous
  • Unknown or N/A

Recent Changes

Blood donations by MSMs

The ability for MSMs (men who have sex with men) to donate blood or tissue for organ transplants. A deferral period refers to a waiting time before a man can donate after having sex.

Summary

125
Legal
125 regions (63%)
Legal
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Somewhere in between
56
Illegal
56 regions (28%)
Illegal
17
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
17 regions (9%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
Europe
72%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
36 regions (72%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
12 regions (24%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
2 regions (4%)
Oceania
79%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
11 regions (79%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
3 regions (21%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
regions (0%)
South America
92%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
11 regions (92%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
1 regions (8%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
regions (0%)
North America
78%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
18 regions (78%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
4 regions (17%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
1 regions (4%)
Africa
63%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
34 regions (63%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
12 regions (22%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
8 regions (15%)
Asia
32%
LEGAL EQUALITY
Legal
14 regions (32%)
Somewhere in between
regions (0%)
Illegal
24 regions (55%)
No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous
6 regions (14%)

Progress Over Time

Number of countries with equality for blood donations by msms over the past 61 years.

2024

2023

2022

Blood donations by MSMs by Country

Banned (3-month deferral)

Blood donations by MSMs is banned (3-month deferral) in 5 regions.

  1. Europe (2)
  2. Belgium 2023
  3. Denmark 2020
  4. North America (1)
  5. Trinidad and Tobago
  6. Oceania (2)
  7. Australia 2021
  8. New Zealand 2020

Banned (6-month deferral)

Blood donations by MSMs is banned (6-month deferral) in 3 regions.

  1. Asia (1)
  2. Japan 2011
  3. Europe (2)
  4. Serbia 2007
  5. Sweden 2021

Banned (1-year deferral)

Blood donations by MSMs is banned (1-year deferral) in 5 regions.

  1. Asia (1)
  2. Iraq
  3. Oceania (1)
  4. Samoa

Banned (5-year deferral)

Blood donations by MSMs is banned (5-year deferral) in 1 regions.

  1. Asia (1)
  2. Taiwan 2018

No data, no laws, N/A, or ambiguous

Data on blood donations by msms is unclear, not applicable, or missing in 17 regions.

  1. North America (1)
  2. Guatemala

Spot an error? Visit the region and select "Accurate?: No" so Equaldex's editors can review it.