LGBTQ advocate Jay Franzone was abstinent for a year in 2017 so he could donate blood. Gay men had to abstain from sex with another man for 12 months prior. The year before the Pulse tragedy, the FDA revoked that ban, but replaced it with another restriction. The Food and Drug Administration in 1983 instituted a lifetime ban against blood donations from gay men to protect recipients of blood transfusions from the chance of contracting HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. But potential donors who were gay or bisexual were turned away.

Blood was urgently needed because of the huge numbers of people injured at the scene. Lines of eager blood donors flocked to the OneBlood donation center, which had put out an immediate call for donors. Orlando’s gay community, shocked by the murderous scene and grieving, turned out in huge numbers to donate blood. How will Smollett's hoax affect public perception of hate crimes? The story of marriage equality is more complicated - and costly - than you remember Red Cross blood supply crisis exacerbated by staffing shortages