"I've donated blood more than 10 times and never revealed my sexual orientation," said Xiao, an openly gay man.
But he also said that some homosexual men still go for HIV screening at blood donation points as they do not know about the free voluntary testing services that are available.
Some homosexuals who were worried about seeing people they know and revealing their sexual orientation might also turn to blood donation for HIV screenings, he said.
Usually within a week of giving blood, donors get a message telling them if their donated blood passed health checks, including HIV screening, for clinical use.
Zhang said because of the nature of their sexual contact, gay men are at greater risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
The Ministry of Health said about 3 percent of Chinese men who have sex with other men are HIV-positive, a percentage far higher than the average for the entire population, which stands at 0.057 percent.
"Some gay men go to donate blood and in truth just want the HIV screening provided by blood banks, which poses challenges to blood supply safety," Zhang said.
He suggested better health education and HIV intervention among the gay population to address the problem.
"There should be more social tolerance toward this group, because without discrimination they are more likely to go to the government-run HIV testing clinics," Zhang said.
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