Lesbians Matter: Blood, Care, and Resistance during the AIDS crisis

When I first learned about the role lesbians played during the AIDS crisis, I felt a jolt
of recognition. Not simply from someone researching the past, but as someone who
carries that identity myself, as someone that was still looking for the meaning of
community, what it meant to be part of a larger collective. Lesbians were not only
present in this story, but they were vital to it, even though their contributions are
largely overlooked in the larger narrative of AIDS activism.
The AIDS epidemic broke out in the 1980s, and gay men were subsequently barred
from donagting blood, which also meant that they didn’t have any access to blood if
they needed it. In that moment of exclusion, lesbians stepped forward. Lesbians
stepped in as nurses, bedside carers, activists, protestors. They organized blood
drives, offering their own veins as a lifeline. The San Diego Blood Sisters
spearheaded these initiatives, if interested in more on this part of queer history:
https://womensmuseum.wordpress.com/2019/04/10/the-blood-sisters-of-san-diego/.
This wasn’t just to meet medical needs, in this there’s also a clear statement: our
community is interconnected, and when one part is cut off, the rest will step in. To
donate blood is to give something from your body, it is a gift of life. During the AIDS
crisis, it was also a gift of dignity.
Too often, lesbians are ignored, whether their contributions during the AIDS crisis or
even still within the community. But lesbians matter. And lesbian AIDS activism
matters, because it shows that we, as a community, are stronger when we are
intertwined, when we work together. It matters because it reminds us that activism
isn’t only about fighting for ourselves, but also about showing up for each other when
we need it most. (For more on lesbians as the glue in the queer community:
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/04/28/lesbians-lesbian-visibility-week-lisa-
power/)
Remembering lesbian blood drives is more than just honoring a hidden chapter of
history; it is about reclaiming the truth that care and solidarity have always been at
the heart of our survival. AIDS has claimed the life of hundreds of thousands of
people, a disproportionate number of them gay men, but AIDS did not and could
never claim the humanity, strength, connection and power it takes to get through
such tragedy as a community. Lesbians stood in that gap, offering their blood, their
bodies, their solidarity, their care, and their labor when it was most needed. Their
activism reminds us that survival has never been an individual act; it has always
been collective. To remember them is to remember the truth that pride is not a
celebration, it is a protest, it is resilience, it is resistance, it is showing up for one
another and about insisting every part of our community matters. The exhibit We Are
Everywhere explores lesbians’ roles within the community and has a header on
lesbian aids activism, for more information:
https://onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu/s/we-are-everywhere/page/welcome.

Knowing this history, I feel proud to be a lesbian, part of a community that, even in
the face of violence, has always chosen care and solidarity. Remembering the
lesbian blood drives is a reminder that our strength lies in showing up for one
another, and that pride itself is rooted in resilience and resistance.