Jimmy Dignam

The Workers’ Party has welcomed the recommendation of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to end the lifetime ban on gay men donating blood and calls on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, to respond to the recommendation based on scientific evidence, not stigma or fear.

“In the last fortnight we have seen in the United States where stigma and fear can lead, with 49 LGBT people murdered for no other reason than for who they were”, Jimmy Dignam, Workers’ Party representative for Dublin North West, said. “In Ireland, LGBT people – particularly Trans people – continue to experience discrimination, violence and harassment in the workplace, in our schools and on our streets.”

“During the Marriage Equality referendum last year we said that we as a society had changed. Now is the time to prove it.”