With rainbow banners in the air, sequin-clad performers dancing and a booming mix of music and giggles, Cin Diesel says they’ve never before seen a blood drive like the one in Halifax on Thursday.
The 54-year-old drag artist, who was recently crowned the 2025 East Coast Drag Icon, was one of the hosts of the Bloody Good Drag blood drive.
Diesel, who works as a phlebotomist with Canadian Blood Services when not performing in drag, said the event is aimed at increasing donations while having fun and highlighting the positive impact of Halifax’s drag scene.
“This is all about giving back, raising awareness about blood donation and who can be donating, and really spreading some queer joy,” Diesel said Thursday, decked out in a bright pink suit with black and pink feathers on their shoulders, a dark moustache, and five-inch-tall blue, yellow and orange high heels.
Diesel said this type of event is possible because Canadian Blood Services removed eligibility criteria in 2022 that prevented many LGBTQ+ people from donating blood and plasma. Last year, the national blood service issued a public apology to Canada’s LGBTQ+ community and acknowledged the harm it caused by preventing men who have sex with men and some transgender people from donating blood for many years.
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In September 2022, Canadian Blood Services eliminated screening questions about sexual orientation and replaced them with sexual behaviour questions that apply to all donors.
“By taking away those restrictions, it has finally opened up the chance for us as the queer community and Canadian Blood Services to heal and grow again. And I think a lot of people in the queer community might not know how eligibility has changed,” Diesel said.
Mya Foxx, a Halifax drag queen on the current season of “Canada’s Drag Race” co-hosted the event and donated blood Thursday. Foxx said it makes perfect sense that drag performers would get involved with Canadian Blood Services.
“Drag is really all about community, right. We’re all about encouraging communities and taking care of one another, so we all felt really aligned with this event,” Foxx said as they donated blood.
“Canadian Blood Services has taken steps in the right direction, and what’s more important than saving lives?” they added.
Cin Diesel ran the phlebotomy setup for Foxx’s blood donation and danced as the donation got underway.
“I couldn’t have asked for better… I don’t think we’ve ever seen a donation this fabulous before,” Foxx said.
By about 2 p.m. Thursday more than 50 people had been through the centre to donate blood.
Kayden Murdoch, who goes by Morgan I. Bargainfor when in drag, said he heard about the event through Diesel and was excited to find out he was eligible to donate. He said the experience has been fun since he walked in the door.
“I get a lot of joy out of a helping others… I’m glad this is a small thing I can do to give back,” he said.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
