Fridae

More than 40 protestors attempted to crash a ceremony marking World Red Cross Day at Telford Plaza in Kowloon Bay on Monday, accusing the Red Cross of discriminating against male homosexuals, reported Hong Kong's iMail Newspaper.

They condemned the Red Cross for rejecting male homosexuals and sex-trade workers as blood donors and for requiring males to answer questions concerning sexual orientation and sex life before giving blood.

Current Red Cross blood-donor guidelines exclude someone from giving blood "if you are a man who has had sex with another man" or if "you have ever been paid for sex".

They waved a large banner from the first floor and threw anti-discrimination leaflets down to the public gallery while Taiwan's Secretary for Health and Welfare Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong and Red Cross officials were delivering speeches on the ground floor.

The protesters also tried to approach Hong Kong Red Cross chairman Yang Ti-liang and Dr Yeoh as they were about to leave the event but were stopped by about 10 police officers and security guards who had to form a human barricade.

Group spokesman Tommy Chen Noel blasted the Red Cross for its "policy of discriminating against a minority".

"We urge the Red Cross to refer to the international AIDS-prevention guidelines and just exclude blood that really has a possibility to spread diseases... Homosexuality is not a problem if people adopt safe sexual behaviour." He told the English-language paper.

The protestors demanded to know why heterosexuals who engaged in risky behaviors were not subjected to the same treatment.

Gay activists have been pushing for the guidelines to be changed for about six months. However, Red Cross secretary Christine Fang Meng-sang said the guidelines were set out in accordance with international standards and there were no plans to amend them at this stage.

The Equal Opportunities Commission says anti-discrimination laws prohibit only discrimination on the basis of gender, disability and family status, not sexual orientation.