Letter written to Cara-Friend from 'Deborah'

Letter written to Cara-Friend from 'Deborah'

Homophobia
LGBTQ suicide
LGBTQ support groups
Mental health care for LGBTQ people
Parents (LGBTQ)

Letter written to Cara-Friend from 'Deborah'. Cara-Friend was established in Belfast by a group of gay men and women in October 1974 as a completely voluntary befriending and information organisation for lesbian, gay and bisexual persons, or anyone for whom same-sex orientation was a matter of concern.

In her letter, Deborah reveals that she has realised she is attracted to other girls but has found herself unable to talk about her feelings to anyone else. She describes her parents' homophobic views and mentions an unsuccessful suicide attempt. She finishes by saying that she is writing to Cara-Friend to get help because of her depression and suicidal feelings.

There is a handwritten note at the top of the letter that Cara-Friend have written back to Deborah and she has been in contact again by phone. Contact details have been redacted.

Original entry written by Michael Fryer 22/02/2021.

Cara-Friend Papers

26 June 1983

Reproduced with permission of the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. Items in this digital archive are covered by a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No-Derivatives License. Please credit the LGBT HERITAGE PROJECT Northern Ireland, and provide a link back to this site.

A4 Notepaper

English

Letter

1983
Northern Ireland