They had a very draconian rule about men who have had sex with men being unable to donate. That rule has been removed, and instead the same rule will apply to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.
The new rule is: “Any individual, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, who has had new or multiple sexual partners in the last three months, and also had anal sex in that timeframe, will be asked to wait three months to donate blood from last anal sex contact. Individuals who have had anal sex in the last three months may be eligible to donate as long as they did not have sex with someone new or with multiple partners during that timeframe.”
It sounds like it depended on an FDA rule that was changed this year.
It was. The Red Cross has been campaigning the FDA to change their rules for a long time. They’ve been funding studies, etc. The new FDA changes are a step in the right direction but definitely not perfect.