Top of documentUTRECHT. According to a report written bij the lawdepartment of the University of Utrecht, bloodbanks in Holland may well be breaking Dutch law by refusing gay men as blood-donors. The matter was investigated after a gay man who had been a donor for years was, despite being willing to undergo an AIDS-test, placed in the "Aids high risc category", which meant being stricken as a donor. As there is no law forbidding gay men to donate blood and the donation of blood can be seen as an agreement between the donor and the bloodbank the bloodbanks may be violating the General Law on Equal Treatment.
Top of documentAMSTERDAM. When everything goes according to plan by 1997 the "Rietvinck" nursinghome for the elderly will be expanded with 7 houses especially for elderly gays and lesbians. The experiment is based on the findings of two investigations into the situation of gay senior citizens in nursing homes. According to the results of these, gay senior citizens, who grew up before the wave of gay emancipation reached Holland in the seventies, often feel that even in their old age they have to hide their sexuality for fear of being scorned. They also said to feel out of place among people who just talk about their children and grandchildren. Reactions to the plans from straight residents of "de Rietvinck" varied from indifference to being positive. A similar experiment in the German city of Hamburg was nipped in the bud last month by local residents of the wealthy area of Hemmelsbuettel fearing their new gay neighbours might atract prostitution, drugusers and other criminals.