Fri 25 Sep 2015 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
A tweet-activated liquid rainbow sculpture highlights the current gay blood donor restrictions in the UK which only allows gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they have not had sex in 12 months. The twitter campaign #putbackred activates the sculpture and those that tweet in support of the campaign become one of the 100,000 supporters needed to raise a parliamentary debate challenging the current blood donation rules. Each tweet triggers a single drop of red liquid to fall, only at 100,000 drops will the red section of the flag fill and the rainbow flag be complete. The project aims to highlight the notion that blood donation guidelines should be based on the general sexual behaviours of a person rather than their sexuality. Cheil UK, the design agency behind the sculpture are in support of the UK's Freedom to Donatecampaign. The sculpture is currently on display as part of the London Design Festival at Sommerset House. In December the blood ban in New Zealand dropped from 5 years to 12 months, meaning we now have the same laws in place as the UK; men who have had oral or anal sex with another man in the past 12 months are unable to donate blood.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 25th September 2015 - 11:07am