The AIDS crisis largely affected queer men and trans women, but a group of lesbians also played a vital role in saving countless lives by holding regular blood drives during the 1980s when the HIV epidemic first broke out. After many politicians and broadcasters branded the disease a “gay plague”, furthering the stigma against the LGBTQ+ community, a group of lesbians decided to stand in solidarity with the people being affected by it. They called themselves the ‘Blood Sisters’. Two years after the crisis began, men who had sex with men were banned from giving blood – a requirement that has since been relaxed somewhat – but women who had sex with other women were not subject to the same restrictions. This led to a severe shortage in blood for lifesaving transfusions, leading the Blood Sisters to begin their own grassroots blood drives. Read more about the Blood Sisters via the link in the bio. #WorldHIVDay #LGBTQNews #LGBTQHistory 📷: The Lambda Archives