any different? Or is the discrimination...

Even as the gay debate simmers in India, with homosexuals rejoicing at section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (criminalising homosexuality) being abolished, a report in yesterday's Hindustan Times underlines the sentiment that it is not just the law, but the attitude towards homosexuality that needs to change.

The report headlined: 'Are you gay? Hospitals ask blood donors in Delhi' states that several hospitals in the capital ask blood donors their sexual preference. Some ban homosexuals from giving blood, while others discourage them.

Said Vikram Doctor of Gay Bombay, "This policy about banning gays from donating blood is ridiculous. I think it was adopted from the US, which bans gay men from donating blood and I think it was implemented in the 1970s."

Anand Grover, who was the lead counsel for Naz Foundation (the NGO that filed a petition against section 377), called the policy, "Totally stupid, irregular and illegal.

There are lots of homosexuals with single partners, while heterosexuals may have had multiple partners, so they would be at a higher risk of infection. I would call this a dangerous policy."

Grover's argument finds resonance with Dr L Ramakri- shnan, country director, Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in India (Saathii) Trust in Chennai.

He said, "In the US, they follow the Food and Drug Administration guidelines, which have a policy that men who have had sex with men since 1977 are not allowed to donate blood because they are at a higher risk of infection. Some hospitals follow this here, but the Indian situation is different.

Here, HIV usually spreads heterosexually, like in Africa, not male to male.

"Secondly, there is a stigma associated with being homosexual, so how many people will admit they have had sex with a same sex partner on a blood donation form?"