Historic blood drive for Columbus LGBTQ+ community postponed. Here’s why
The first blood drive in Columbus to allow gay and bisexual men, as well as other LGTBQ+ individuals, to donate blood was scheduled for Wednesday, but it has been postponed after a “booking issue,” according to Colgay Pride, which was set to host the event in partnership with the American Red Cross.
The blood drive was expected to happen at the Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road, in Synovus Rooms A&B. Colgay Pride President Jeremy Hobbs told the Ledger-Enquirer there was a “clerical error on somebody’s part,” and the organization was seeking to reschedule the event.
“We’re sorry to all the people that registered in advance,” Hobbs said, adding that Colgay Pride would provide information about a future event as soon as possible.
Tiffany Wilson, community engagement coordinator for Chattahoochee Valley Libraries, told the Ledger-Enquirer the American Red Cross has scheduled three blood drives at the library for this year, but none of them were scheduled for Wednesday. The Chattahoochee Valley Libraries’ website showed the rooms had not been booked for the late morning.
“We don’t have a record of a room reservation request in our system from them for today,” Wilson said.
Michelle Richardson, account manager for donor recruitment at the Red Cross, told the Ledger-Enquirer there was a “conflict of dates involved” and said they hoped to reschedule the event for later in July.
The planned blood drive was supposed to be the first one to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood due to changes in federal regulations. In August 2023, the American Red Cross implemented the updated U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s blood donation guidelines, which eliminate questions based on sexual orientation.
“We look forward to welcoming those who may be newly eligible to give through a more inclusive blood donation process,” the Red Cross said in a news release at the time.
The restrictions on screening donors was an effort to reduce the risk of HIV through the transmission of blood and blood products. In 1983, at the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the FDA instituted a lifetime ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men.
“Over the years, this policy slowly evolved — but only recently have we reached a place where donation eligibility is based on individual risk instead of identity,” Colgay Pride said.
The American Red Cross said in its August 2023 news release, “For many years, the Red Cross has worked to change the deferral policy concerning men who have sex with men (MSM). This work included decades of data collection and assessment on the impact to transfusion safety, ongoing advocacy to eliminate donor questions based on sexual orientation, and our role as a leading contributor in the FDA-funded ADVANCE Study. This work has demonstrated that this new eligibility screening process ensures a safe blood supply, and all patients may continue to trust that the blood they receive is safe.”
Colgay Pride calls the new eligibility requirements “a victory for science, equality and humanity.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 12:51 PM.
