Blood, sex and biopower: A legal-sociological analysis concerning the prohibition on blood donation for men who have had sex with men
Keywords:
equal treatment, blood donation, sexual minorities, fundamental rights, biopower, FoucaultAbstract
The aim of the article is to analyse the prohibition on blood donation regarding men who have had sex with men from a legal and a sociological perspective. The legal analysis will concentrate on the conflict between the prohibition on blood donation for men who have had sex with men and the right to equal treatment of sexual minorities. Legal foundation of the ban will be looked into, and relevant case law at domestic and international level will be discussed. The article will also analyse the prohibition on blood donation from a sociological perspective, using Michel Foucault´s notion of biopower as a form of control as the main theoretical framework. The article will suggest that the ban on blood donation is indirect discrimination and thus a violation of the right to equal treatment, and the way that the prohibition is formulated and justified can be seen as a way to use biopower to control and isolate homosexuals in the society.
