Heartstopper's Joe Locke Blasts Restrictions on Gay Men Donating Blood

The Heartstopper cast continues to win fans over and use their platforms for good.

Joe Locke, who plays Charlie Spring on the hit Netflix series, called out the discriminatory policies in place against queer men who want to donate blood while speaking at Isle of Man Pride over the weekend.

“The island has come so far in the last 30 years, legalizing same-sex marriage in 2016, and in 2021, banning conversion therapy for all LGBT people — something the UK government has failed and is failing to do,” he said in a pre-recorded video. “But there is still work to be done. The Isle of Man, to this day, does not allow gay men to donate blood, an archaic rule that was placed into force during the height of the AIDS pandemic. These rules have slowly changed in the UK since then, allowing gay men to donate blood under certain rules. But not on the island.”

Most of the UK shifted to a new policy regarding gay and bisexual men and blood donation last summer. The previous policy, which had only been in place since 2017, allowed for blood donation from men who had abstained from sexual contact with other men for three months. As of June 2021, men who had been in a monogamous relationship with another man for the same time period were also permitted to donate blood.

The practice of discriminating against queer men when it comes to blood donation has been blasted for some time now, both by the LGBTQ+ community and its allies and the medical community as well. Doctors have pointed out time and time again that science has progressed to better screen blood for HIV, which we now know is not something that only impacts queer men.

“I call upon the Manx government, and our politicians within Tynwald, to change this archaic law and bring the Island one step closer on its journey to acceptance,” Locke told the crowd.

And his words have already had an effect — Manx Radio reports that the government has committed to revisiting the law in the short time since Locke drew renewed attention to the issue in a public way.

“In future donors would not be asked about their sexuality and men who have sex with men would no longer be automatically prevented from giving blood,” they said. "Instead a person’s eligibility to donate would be based solely on an assessment of their individual experiences, as part of their pre-donation health check.”

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