The harrowing early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic are often remembered through the lens of the gay men who were disproportionately affected. However, the history of that period is incomplete without acknowledging the vital, often overlooked, role played by countless lesbians who stepped forward as caregivers, organisers, and advocates for their dying gay and bisexual brothers.
Like the men they supported, these women in the first years of the crisis were grappling with a terrifying and poorly understood illness. From experience, they knew it appeared to be a death sentence, but they acted with compassion and determination in the face of widespread fear and stigma.
In 1981, psychologist Candy Marcum was working with a teacher named Howie Daire to start a gay counselling centre in Dallas. That September, they attended a conference in Houston. "We started hearing about GRID — gay-related immune deficiency," Marcum recalls. On the drive back, Daire, who had friends falling ill in New York and San Francisco, suggested turning their centre's second phone line into a GRID hotline. Marcum agreed, and the centre quickly transformed into a community services hub, launching a 'buddy project' to pair those who were HIV-positive with healthy friends for support.
Dr. Caitlin Ryan, who would become the first executive director of AID Atlanta, first heard whispers of the emerging crisis in New York in 1981. Having worked in LGBT health since the 1970s, she was part of a network of providers deeply concerned by reports of unusual pneumonia and cancers in gay men. "My response was, you know, what can I do to help?" she said. Attuned to the damaging effects of stigma, she did not see people "ravaged" by AIDS, but individuals in desperate need of care at a time when a diagnosis often meant death within weeks.
For Jacquie Bishop, returning to New York for her second year of college in 1983, the epidemic was suddenly inescapable. "The disease was all over the place," she remembers. Taking a job at the city's Gay and Lesbian Community Center, her plans for immediate study were postponed. Under the guidance of Barbara Starrett and a local doctor, the 19-year-old immersed herself in learning, working as a de facto medical assistant to understand and confront the crisis. "Imagine a 19-year-old lesbian trying to figure stuff out," she reflects on that urgent, formative time.
These narratives underscore a powerful, often forgotten solidarity. At a time when many shunned those who were sick, these women and many others like them provided essential hands-on care, built support networks, and helped lay the groundwork for the organised AIDS service movement, driven by a shared sense of community and a resolve to help in the face of the unknown.
For a full analysis of this important period in LGBTQIA history, check out the website of LGBTQ Nation.
