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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Walter Marsh

‘I’m not a lesbian. I’m Isla Roberts’: the 38-year love story that defies labels

Australia
Susan Phillips-Rees (left) at home in Mylor in the Adelaide Hills with her partner of 38 years, Isla Roberts. The pair are the subjects of the documentary Isla’s Way. Phillips-Rees is frustrated by Roberts’s rejection of the “lesbian” label, which she feels “negates” their connection.
Susan Phillips-Rees at home in Mylor in the Adelaide Hills with her partner of 38 years Isla Roberts, who rejects the ‘lesbian’ label. The pair are the subjects of new Australian documentary Isla’s Way. Photograph: Sam Oster

For nearly four decades Isla Roberts has lived in Mylor in the Adelaide Hills with Susan Phillips-Rees. Over a cup of tea in the couple’s kitchen, Isla recounts their meet-cute in song:

The first time I saw Susan / she was standing at a gate /
With a bridle in her hand / and a smile upon her face

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