On a Saturday in 1994, a 68-year-old woman called a special phone line set up to support British lesbians – and not for the first time. We don’t know her name but can safely assume that she chose to be anonymous, like many of the helpline’s other callers. After speaking with her, volunteers Sam, Ros and Hannah wrote in their log notes that day: “She seems to be getting a bit less depressed, but very slowly.”
The mystery woman had recently experienced a bereavement and had been using the Lesbian Line service to talk about her late husband, Carl, and more recently, the loss of her “special friend”, Joan. The log details several follow-up calls, with workers offering suggestions for support, including lesbian bereavement groups and counselling sessions. We know that they gave her a rare space – maybe her only space – to talk about Joan.
