Mexico is making great strides in treating each of their citizens fairly and eliminating decades of discrimination and inequality. Earlier this month, Mexico’s Supreme Court lifted the ban on same sex marriage. Now Mexico is taking it a step further by allowing gay men to donate blood. The issue has always been a taboo subject in political arenas as a result of erroneous generalizations surrounding gay men.

The National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) addressed the change in Mexico’s policy stating that the old policies were a form of discrimination:

“…From now on, medical/scientific criteria will be used to identify pathogens in the blood and the focus will be turned to risky behaviors rather than social groups.

In making these discriminatory distinctions, the [previous] norm explicitly violated the prohibition against discrimination present in the Constitution and the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, as well as Article 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Civil and Political Rights Treaty, among other international instruments of law, which establish that every person is equal before the law regardless of any condition.”

Will we aee this type of movement in the United States anytime soon? Maybe. In an article addressing the stigma surrounding blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM) the current policy banning the practice has been called out for revision and to have new guidelines:

Since 1983, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines have disqualified men who have ever had sex with men (MSM) from donating blood. The policy has been heavily criticized recently for misrepresenting 21st Century scientific realities; and the American Red Cross, alongside senators, universities and other organizations, have called for an updated policy that reflects the realities of modern science and technology

…I learned of nation-wide efforts requesting that the FDA update the Red Cross questionnaire. Schools around the country have responded with petitions challenging the legality of the policy and calling on the FDA to change the policy’s outdated origins so as to reflect modern science and medical literature on HIV.

In any case, this new change will get the conversation going.