By James Sanders, as published in the Pink Paper, 1 September 2010.

The Conservative party's queer advocacy group have launched a new campaign against the UK's anti-gay blood ban, this week.

LGBTory, who had record numbers of supporters at Manchester Pride last weekend, begun their campaign with a petition at the high profile event, which attracted 100s of signatures.

LGBTory Chairman, Matthew Sephton, commented: “At a time when the blood service is crying out for new donors, the fact that there is still an arbitrary ban on a certain section of society from giving blood (ie gay men) is a disgrace and nothing more than discrimination. 

"There is increasing evidence that this ban is not needed and so we would like to see an urgent review of the law in this area.  Our petition is the first step in our campaign to have the blood ban reviewed and we will be campaigning vigorously to see a change in the law in this area.”

Sweden have recently lifted the lifetime ban on gay men giving blood and a team of investigators in the online edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal has also argued that the lifetime ban on gay men giving blood should be replaced with a deferral for those who have been in a stable, monogamous relationship for at least one year.