Denying gay men the right to donate blood: the meanings of the STF decision that made restrictive rules illegal

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze and understand the meanings of the decision of the Federal Supreme Court that made the prohibition expressed by norms and carried out by the Brazilian State of blood donation by homosexual men unconstitutional. It also seeks to identify the reasons for the restriction and to understand how it relates to hatred and prejudice against gay men, in addition to investigating whether the Supreme Court's decision was a reparation with regard to the equalization of rights and the fight against discrimination of the population. LGBTI in Brazil, this being the main hypothesis. For that, the methodology used is the case study with bibliographic review, critical and qualified analysis, and propositional attitude. At the beginning, it is presented, briefly and against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, the History of the LGBTI Movement in Brazil and the achievements of the community in the legal field. Then, the motivations that resulted in the legal norms that gave basis to the denial of the right to blood donation by homosexual men are pointed out. Finally, the instrument that challenged the restrictive norms, the context and the judgment of the action is presented, as well as two votes of ministers who voted for the maintenance of the restrictions are analyzed in detail and, finally, in search of an answer to the hypothesis raised, the vote of minister Edson Fachin, rapporteur of the matter and who voted for the unconstitutionality of the restriction, is the subject of analysis. It is possible to list as results and contributions of this work: enabling the LGBTI population in Brazil to appropriate its own history, contextualizing in the past and present the theme of the denial of homosexual men to the right to donate blood, understanding the meanings of the decision of the Supreme and its reflection in the increase in blood bank stocks and in the advancement in terms of equal rights and in the process of citizenship of the LGBTI population in Brazil.