ORLANDO, Fla. — When the Pulse nightclub shooting happened seven years ago, hundreds answered the call to donate blood to help the dozens of victims.
However, federal rules kept many gay or bisexual men from being able to donate blood.
Now, recent changes by the Federal Drug Administration are making it easier for members of the LGBTQ+ community to donate blood.
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Before the rule change, many members of the LGBTQ+ community were not allowed to donate or were told they had to abstain from sex for three months until they could donate.
Now individual risk-based questions will be the same for every blood donor regardless of sexual orientation, gender, or sex. Those who have had anal sex with a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner, within the last three months will be asked to wait to donate blood, but those in monogamous relationships will not have to wait.
Read: Central Florida community remembers lives lost 7 years after Pulse nightclub shooting
I think it’s a great advancement, and I think it’s super progressive, and I think it only makes sense,” said Chynna Thompson, who donated blood on Monday in honor of the 49 lives lost.
OneBlood, who will be out at the Doctor Phillips Center until 8 p.m., is slowly implementing the changes.
Photos: Remembering the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting
“We are working to implement those changes, we’ll be moving to the new policy in the next couple of months,” said a OneBlood spokesperson.
OneBlood said blood goes through a process before it is used to treat people, so it’s more about keeping the blood supply up so that when a tragedy happens it’s there.
Read: ‘Our hearts remain broken’: Community reflects on 7 years since Pulse tragedy
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