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Lesbian Line is a new phone service for women operated entirely by women and offering help, advice and information.
Most women, whether or not we are lesbians, have been brought up either in total ignorance of lesbianism, or to regard lesbians as anything from disgusting perverts to, at best, unfortunate women with 'problems'. Lesbian characters are rarely portrayed on television, radio or in films. except as sexual deviants in pornography. The hostility towards lesbians prevents us from making our relationships visible in public. Unless we are prepared to wear distinguishing badges, it is automatically assumed that all women are heterosexual. We get constantly asked questions about our boyfriends or husbands. In every aspect of our lives the heterosexual image is thrust upon us.
As a result, heterosexual women are often very wary of relating to us as friends. For us as lesbians it is difficult to meet and recognise each other, while for women experiencing their first attraction to another woman, the prospect of not being 'normal' can be very frightening.
Seldom if ever are we shown the positive aspects of lesbianism; our closeness and strength together, our potential for developing alternative ways of leading our lives as women. We recognise that lesbians can have 'problems' although we believe that these are not caused by our homosexuality but by the pressures put on us by society.
Lesbians are discriminated against not only as lesbians but as women. All women unaccompanied by a man are seen as potential pick-ups and can be rape victims. Generally speaking, too, women are in lower paid jobs than men, and welfare provision reveals that we are eventually expected to be financially dependent upon them. But lesbians are also discriminiated against as homosexual people, to the extent that we face losing our children in custody cases, purely because of our sexual orientation. Any lesbian who wishes to have or adopt a child is assumed to be an unfit parent. In particular lesbians working with children, i.e. teachers, nurses, social workers, risk losing their Jobs if they reveal their homosexuality, largely due to the myth that homosexual people - unlike heterosexuals - are unable to control their "sexual urges'. In addition homosexuals often face dismissal even in jobs where they are not in contact with children, as in the armed forces, for example. In our personal lives too as lesbians, we face possible rejection by family, friends or colleagues.
For society the very existence of lesbians challenges the expectation that women are put on this earth in order to find a man and get married. It undermines the traditional view of women's role as being passively dependent, and, for men, the independence of lesbians poses particular threat to their ego. Society prefers to close its eyes to the existence of lesbians. But this apparent indifference is not to be confused with acceptance. There is a general misconception both inside and outside of the gay movement that because lesbians are not necessarily overtly discriminated against by law (as is male homosexuality) lesbian oppression