This LGBT+ History Month, we look into the lesbians who were crucial during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 80s
BY AMY CHAPPEL, IMAGE BY DIVERSIFYLENS
In the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, many communities suffered immense hardship, anxiety and loss. Prejudice led some healthcare providers to deny treatment to those affected. Families struggled to support loved ones diagnosed with the disease. However the gay community was not totally abandoned in their time of need. Lesbians quickly banded together to support their gay brothers and others afflicted with the virus, organising grassroots efforts to provide care and challenge injustice.
Dubbed the Blood Sisters, these courageous lesbians played a pivotal role during the AIDS crisis, giving their time and blood to help those in need.
In 1983, two years after the start of the AIDS crisis, “men who have sex with men” were banned from donating blood. HIV patients, often anaemic as a result of the virus, needed frequent blood transfusions: the result was a critical shortage of blood.
The Blood Sisters answered the urgent call. Groups like the San Diego Blood Sisters organised blood drives and established accounts to direct donations specifically to AIDS patients. The Blood Sisters held their first drive on 16 July 1983. The turnout overwhelmed expectations — almost 200 lesbians queued to give their blood at the first San Diego drive, resulting in at least 130 donations. The Blood Sisters would continue to organise regular blood drives for the next few years, which led to the birth of similar blood drives across the US.
These drives supplied vital blood and also conveyed crucial compassion — many patients felt profoundly abandoned, rejected by families and lacking emotional support. The outpouring of aid from LGBTQIA volunteers brought necessary comfort during an isolating time of crisis.
Barbara Vick, a founding member of the San Diego Blood Sisters, recalls: “There was a powerlessness everybody felt, but the lesbian community seemed immune to the disease. I don’t want to say there was guilt, but you look at counterparts bearing this burden for no reason. At that time, women had less to give economically, but blood is such a basic thing.”
Beyond organising blood drives, many lesbians also volunteered in hospitals and clinics. Increasingly, lesbians filled the void, stepping in as caregivers and leaders, while working to raise money to combat the epidemic. They quietly stepped up helping with grief counselling, patient advocacy and bedside vigils for the dying when few others would. The Blood Sisters further countered injustice by directly confronting institutional homophobia and political neglect of marginalised AIDS sufferers.
When UK Prime Minister Thatcher first publicly acknowledged the AIDS crisis in 1987 after hundreds of Britons had died, lesbian advocates called out the delayed governmental response and demanded urgent action. Their activism drew further attention to the health emergency facing the marginalised LGBTQIA community. Media outlets praised the volunteers as heroic caretakers. Their advocacy underscored political prejudice and inaction.
While modern treatments have thankfully transformed HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination still harm many patients today.
The compassion and courage of the Blood Sisters in a time of crisis continue to inspire current advocacy. Their story honours both the profound tragedy of early AIDS deaths and the power of marginalised communities uniting to support their most vulnerable members.
Though HIV treatments have progressed, an estimated 105,200 people are still living with HIV in the UK as of 2019. The Blood Sisters’ legacy of empathy, solidarity and truth-telling remains relevant in supporting people living with HIV today, as hate persists. Though treatments have progressed, prejudice has not – it calls on us to carry on our compassionate fight against injustice.
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