LESBIAN INFORMATION SERVICE
ANNUAL REPORT

1991-1992

AIM

The aim of the organisation is to support Lesbians, promote understanding of Lesbian experience and encourage authorities to fulfill their responsibility in supporting Lesbians, in order to combat discrimination.

OBJECTIVES

Our objectives are:-

* to generate understanding and discussion about Lesbian experience;

* to generate positive activities to combat oppression;

* to increase the visibility of Lesbians - our struggles and successes;

* to identify and expose the effects of anti-Lesbianism; and

* to encourage an awareness of the needs of Lesbians, especially those who are Multi-Oppressed and isolated, including, Young Lesbians, Working Class Lesbians, Black Lesbians, Minority Ethnic Lesbians - including Irish Lesbians - Disabled Lesbians and Old Lesbians.

METHODS

We will achieve our aim and objectives by various methods, including:

- providing an enquiry and referral service;

- producing publications;

- conducting research;

- setting up a research library;

- conducting training;

- working with Young Lesbians.

BACKGROUND

Lesbian Information Service was established in July 1987 by Jan Bridget and Sandra Lucille. It is run on a full-time voluntary basis with help from other volunteers from time to time.

1987-1988

In the first year of operation L.I.S. concentrated on local activities in Leicester. We received a grant of £1,551.43 from Leicester City Council which helped towards setting up and running a Lesbian Line, Young Lesbian Group and Lesbians with Phobias Group. We also ran a Lesbian Coffee Bar, established a local campaign against Clause 28 of the Local Government Bill, as well as expanding a local Lesbian newsletter into a national publication. An article was published about the Young Lesbian Group in a local play-leaders newsletter.

We conducted research and produced a 45-page report, "Lesbians and Housing in Leicester" which has since been sold to over 70 housing agencies throughout Britain. Details of our activities are contained within our first Annual Report which also outlines many of the problems we encountered running a local service for Lesbians.

1988-1989

By July 1988, with the introduction of Section 28 of the Local Government Act, support for our activities by Leicester City Council stopped. Without funding we could not continue our local work. We decided to stop these activities (but, of course, continued to support individual Lesbians) and concentrate on developing the national newsletter (Lesbian Information Service Newsletter - "LISN").

We applied for several grants, in particular to the Equal Opportunities Commission and Account 28 (a specific funding body for Lesbian and Gay organisations) but were unsuccessful. We ran a Lesbian Studies Course at Nottingham Lesbian Centre (unfunded - because of Section 28) and published a short book list, a Lesbian health booklist, and a draft Lesbian Studies Pack. We also ran a Lesbians and Health Workshop in Stoke. Articles were published in the "Leicester Rights Bulletin" and "Lesbian and Gay Socialist". "LISN" became our major source of funding during this period. Further information is available in our second Annual Report.

1989-1990

Due to the pressure of producing a monthly newsletter we decided to make "LISN" bi-monthly but at the same time almost doubled the content. We also changed the title to "Lesbian International," to reflect the contents and our growing international contacts. During this period we moved to Todmorden, West Yorkshire and took L.I.S. with us - at great expense as we still received no funding. "LISN" was still our main source of income for this period. We produced our last issue of "Lesbian International" in June/July 1990, after publishing for three-and-a-half years. We had produced twenty-seven issues of "LISN"/"Lesbian International" and a further six issues of the local newsletter. We continued to provide an Enquiry and Referral Service.

The direction of L.I.S. changed during this period. We began a new research project into the needs of Young Lesbians. Throughout our existence we have been aware of the needs of Young Lesbians, not only through the work with the Young Lesbian Group, and on-going support of individual members, but also from the numerous desperate letters we receive from isolated Young Lesbians up and down the country. We acquired written support for the Project from various national youth agencies, including the following extract from a letter written by the General Secretary of the National Association of Young People's Counselling and Advisory Services:

"The research project you are planning to undertake into the needs of young lesbians is urgently required. Despite the abundance of material referring to the behaviour of young people from many standpoints, there is very little evidence on young lesbians and an almost total absence of any policy and provision to support them."

After months of negotiating, Lancashire County Council agreed to fund Stage I of the Project (to be conducted in a small, Lancashire, town) with the probability of partial-funding for Stage II, to cover the whole of Lancashire. This took the form of employing Jan Bridget as a part-time youth worker on a temporary contract.

Information regarding the research was publicised in a number of relevant journals and an article was published in "Young People Now." We approached Telethon to part-fund Stage II. More details of our activities for this period, as well as the indexes for "LISN"/"Lesbian International,"are to be found in our third Annual Report.

1990-1991

The Enquiry and Referral Service continued during this period, many requests falling within four main categories: housing, isolated Lesbians, youth work and students seeking information.

We became more involved with the media: Jan had been negotiating with several television production companies and appeared briefly in a programme on Lesbians and Bereavement, discussing Young Lesbians and Suicide, for the Channel 4 series OUT. Articles about L.I.S. appeared in several journals and details about the organisation were included in various directories, including National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Everywoman's Women's Directory and the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux Directory. Details about the Research Project were included in numerous relevant newsletters.

Our publications for this period included: draft Lesbians and Housing Pack; draft Young Lesbian Pack; draft Young Lesbians: Life at 'Home', Leaving Home and Homelessness. We also published an amended version of a U.S. booklet written by Young Lesbians called "i think i might be a lesbian ... now what do i do?" which we send free to Young Lesbians who contact us and the Working With Young Lesbian Resource List.

Training included a session for women youth workers from Lancashire on the Need to Work with Young Lesbians and Racism Awareness for Blackburn and District Well Women Centre. An input about the Research Project was given to the National Organisation for Lesbian and Gay Youth Workers.

We approached about 60 funding bodies for Stage II and III of the Research Project but were unsuccessful, even though we had received numerous letters of support for the Project.

Despite a front page attack by the local media and withdrawal of support from Lancashire County Council, Stage I of the Research Project was completed. This included: designing a questionnaire, contacting isolated Lesbians, conducting in-depth interviews with 13 Lesbians (ten aged 25 and below) who grew up in isolated parts of the country, mainly Lancashire, conducting an international and national search of previous research about Young Lesbians, and conducting a survey of support by local agencies.

As part of the Project a Young Lesbian Group was established. The Group ran for six months, most of this time being voluntary as we withdrew from Lancashire Youth & Community Service because of the severe restraints they were imposing. Work with the Group during this period included: establishing what participants wanted from the Group, music, coming out, health, smoking, alcohol, mothers/non-mothers; other issues raised included: housing, suicide, relationships, isolation, transport, discrimination (especially the media attack on the Research Project). Further details of the Research Project, some of the findings and other activities can be found in our Annual Report for this period.

1991 - 1992

ENQUIRIES AND REFERRALS

Between July 1991 and July 1992 we have had the following enquiries:-

Telephone

We have received (and made) around 857 telephone calls, 88 of which were from isolated Young Lesbians, 67 from isolated older Lesbians, 181 in connection with Jenny Smith, 33 from local authorities, 29 silent calls, 83 concerning funding, 24 from colleges/students. Others included: national agencies, parents, voluntary organisations, Black issues, Disability issues, suicide issues, office, the media, health organisations, Young Lesbian Groups, girls work, training, research, counselling services, housing, administration, equipment, law, leisure, etc.

Letters

We have received nearly 300 letters requesting information including 58 from isolated Young Lesbians, 37 from isolated older Lesbians, 44 youth services, 12 education authorities (colleges), 14 counselling services, 11 youth information services. Others include: Lesbian and Gay groups, girls work projects, health education, national agencies, general, housing, Young Lesbian Groups, Disability issues, Black and Minority Ethnic issues, young peoples training agencies, drop-in services, Lesbian Lines, voluntary organisations, social services, women's centres, lawyers, training requests, young offenders projects, the media. Another 75 letters were sent/received in relation to the Jenny Smith Campaign.

FUNDING

General

Funding has always been a problem; we have applied to over sixty funding bodies in the past, for a variety of projects, in particular the research project, but to little avail. We did receive funding (£1,500) from Leicester City Council when we first set up in 1987, but this stopped after Section 28 of the Local Government Act had been introduced. We also received funding, in the form of employing Jan Bridget as a part-time youth worker for five months, for Stage I of the research project. During this period we made another concerted effort to acquire funding.

Manchester City Council

Initially Manchester City Council showed some interest in funding Stage II of the research project, to take place in Manchester. We had a meeting with the Equal Opportunities Unit as well as corresponding with the chair of the Lesbian Sub-Committee. Manchester never got back to us, despite a firm promise that they would and despite follow-up telephone calls.

The Alan Tobe Trust

We applied for a small grant (£500) to the Alan Tobe Trust in London, to pay for a residential weekend to help establish the LYSIS Young Lesbian Members Group. We were unsuccessful.

Charity Projects

We applied to Charity Projects to help fund the publication of the booklet "i think i might be a lesbian ...now what do i do?" We received a rejection but the letter seemed to be supportive. We had several long telephone conversations with Charity Projects persuading them that our Project came within their criteria. Eventually they agreed that we could apply but by this time we had become disillusioned by the process.

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited

Given that The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited appeared to fund alternative groups (the Rowntree Foundation have given Stonewall, the Lesbian & Gay Rights organisation based in London, a substantial grant), we also sought funding from them, but again received a rejection.

The Save The Children Fund

We have been awarded a grant by The Save The Children Fund of £1000 to enable us to buy a new printer to improve the quality of our publications; and to publicise LYSIS as widely as possible. We are delighted about this and have acquired a Canon bubble-jet BJ-300 printer and distributed information about LYSIS (see Publicity). We would like to take this opportunity of thanking The Save The Children Fund for their support and understanding, in particular, John Shiers, Principal Officer for Greater Manchester/South Lancashire.

Youth Initiative Project - Europe

We applied to the European Community for a Youth Initiative Projects grant. The purpose of the grant was to help towards setting up the LYSIS Helpline and train volunteers. It seemed likely that we may have been successful but we had to withdraw our application because a) we had to acquire equal funding from other bodies, e.g. local authority and b) the proposed Project had to be run by young people. Whilst several Young Lesbians had shown an interest in the Project, and indeed are involved at different levels, without funding we were unable to progress their involvement further.

Calderdale Council

We have had several telephone conversations with the Fair Shares Department, who are about to be disbanded after the recent elections. It seems unlikely that we will acquire any substantial amount of funding from Calderdale.

Rochdale Council

We have also discussed LYSIS with several officers in Rochdale and sent information about LYSIS. However, we have not had any response.

National Youth Development Grant

We have acquired copies of the application details for the National Youth Association Youth Development Grant. This is a very complicated application form and, because of this, and the age range, we have decided not to apply.

Opportunities For Volunteering

Unfortunately, we missed the closing date for this application. Funding will be available again in 1995.

Parents' Friend/Lesbian Link Manchester

We circulated a draft copy of "Young Lesbians: Life at 'Home,' Leaving Home and Homelessness" to various organisations for help with publishing. We received responses from Parents' Friend in Leeds (£15) and Lesbian Link in Manchester (£50). We would like to thank these organisations for their support.

Whilst the above seems negative, we do feel that the damage caused by Section 28 of the Local Government Act - which affected not only local authorities but also the voluntary sector and beyond - is slowly receding. It will be noted that we have been more successful this year in our funding applications. It is a pity that funding bodies show little interest in research projects; we feel that this reflects the lack of interest in research in general throughout Britain.

Purposes of Funding

The main purposes in acquiring grant aid are:

1. To continue and expand the service.

2. To acquire independent accessible premises.

3. To obtain salaries for workers.

4. To enable greater involvement of Young Lesbians.

5. To get more volunteers involved.

LYSIS

The ADVICE AND INFORMATION LINE has been operating for three months. However, we still get most calls from Young Lesbians outside of the two sessions per week (WEDNESDAYS 7 - 9 P.M. AND SATURDAYS 2 - 5 P.M.)

We have an increasing number of Young Lesbians phoning us and some calls last over an hour. Many Young Lesbians continue to keep in touch with us by writing or telephoning on a regular basis to say how they are getting on or if they have a particular difficulty. Most calls are from isolated Young Lesbians living in areas where there is absolutely nothing for them to join in with or anyone from whom they can get support.

With the aim of developing the Helpline and setting up a LYSIS Members Group, we applied to several funding bodies but with no success. Whilst we have regular, on-going, contact with several Young Lesbians our hope of setting up a Members Group has been thwarted due to lack of funding.

Nevertheless, we have been able to directly help nearly 150 Young Lesbians this year, including supporting one Young Lesbian in particular (see Jenny Smith Campaign). We have also produced publications for Young Lesbians and for those who work with Young Lesbians (see Publications) as well as acquiring publicity about the Helpline (see below). We were delighted to received financial support from the Save The Children Fund.

PUBLICITY

LYSIS has been publicised in a number of magazines/journals:

* 'NEW WOMAN' (from which we have received many enquiries from Lesbians of all ages)

* EVERYWOMAN directory (unfortunately they put information about us under another entry and almost half of the other Lesbian organisations have wrong addresses and phone numbers!)

* YOUNG PEOPLE NOW (National Youth Agency publication - several entries)

* GUARDIAN

* VOGUE (!)

* 'ME'

* GMCVS BULLETIN (Greater Manchester Council for Voluntary Service)

* THE PINK PAPER

* GAY SCOTLAND

* GEMMA (For Disabled and Able-bodied Lesbians)

* YOUTH CLUBS UK

Ongoing publicity is crucial to our work but we often find it difficult to get. For example, we contacted "Social Work Today" to ask why they have not publicised the Social Work Resource List. (They had already ignored our press release about setting up LYSIS, using the excuse that there "wasn't enough space.") They said they "have their priorities" and "if it is not included then it is not as important as other issues." Homosexuality seems to be on the social work agenda in Britain only in relation to fostering and adoption issues.

We have also tried to get television interested in a programme about Young Lesbians, but with little success. We wrote to Channel 4 to ask that a programme be made for the OUT series but they were not interested. We have written to the BBC (Open Space) but had a fairly negative response. We also sent information to Free For All but they were not interested either. Our only success has been with Alfalfa in the news piece they did about Jenny Smith being released from prison (see below) but the LYSIS helpline number and address was not televised.

PUBLICATIONS

We produce publications both as a way of raising money for the Service we provide, to distribute information, to support Lesbians, especially Young Lesbians, and to enable authorities to support Lesbians. We have produced several new publications during the last year, including:

Annual Report 1990-1991, 1992

This forty-page Report includes background information about the establishment of LIS and our work since 1987; aspects of our work during the period 1990-1991 including: enquiry and referral service, media, publications, and training; income & expenditure account and financial statement. The Report also includes details regarding Stage I of our research project into the needs of Young Lesbians and summarises the findings, as well as the establishment and running of a Young Lesbian Group. This document would be a useful resource for anyone who is either running a Young Lesbian Group or thinking of setting up support for Young Lesbians, or needs a better understanding of Young Lesbians, especially in relation to applying for funding.

Black & Minority Ethnic Lesbians Resource List, 1992

As well as academic papers the List includes references to articles in books and British publications, a short booklist and Black and Minority Ethnic Lesbian (and Gay) organisations. Extracts are included from papers about growing up Lesbian in a multicultural context, Lesbianism in Hong Kong, Africa, North America, Brazil; Homophobia in Black communities; individual stories; Latina Lesbians; multi-racial relationships; mothers; Racism; equal opportunities, etc.

Lesbians, Gays and Social Work Resource List, 1992

Social services in the U.S. have been supporting Lesbians and Gays in a variety of settings for years yet this rarely happens in Britain. The List includes an introduction about the need for Social Services to challenge their Homophobia and includes abstracts from research papers dating back to 1977, including: social work intervention models, Lesbian families, Homophobia, Young Lesbians and Gays, Old Lesbians and Gays, Lesbian and Gay couples, alcoholism, health care needs, parents of Lesbians and Gays, Gay Youth and AIDS, training, etc. Invaluable resource for all social work agencies.

Homophobia, 1992

Reproduction of a leaflet first produced by the Campaign to End Homophobia, U.S.A. Contains description of Homophobia, including How do you recognize Homophobia in yourself and others? How does Homophobia hurt heterosexuals? What are the causes of Homophobia? Can Homophobia be cured?

Coming Out - Young Lesbian Pack, 1992

Coming out to oneself and to other people who are important to us is a distressing and dangerous time for Young Lesbians: It is one of the most vulnerable times in a Lesbian's life when support is usually not available, especially for those Young Lesbians who do not live in cities or areas where there are Lesbian Lines and other support groups. In response to isolated Young Lesbians contacting us we have produced a Pack of information concerning coming out. The 30+ page Pack includes various articles about being a Young Lesbian, the pamphlet "i think i might be a lesbian ... now what do i do?" a booklist and individual stories by Young Lesbians from Britain, the U.S.A. and Nicaragua. Whilst reflecting some of the problems Young Lesbians face, the stories also show how resilient Young Lesbians are.

Parents of Lesbians, A Resource List, 1992

There is much ignorance about Lesbianism in Britain. When parents are told about their daughter's Lesbianism they usually react with disgust or shock, and this is at a time when their daughter's are most vulnerable and most in need of their help. Parents, like Lesbians, go through their own process of coming to terms with this knowledge. We have produced the Resource List to help this process along, to counteract the ignorance surrounding Lesbianism, and to help par-ents/guardians give effective support to their Lesbian daughters. The List includes abstracts and summaries of U.S. research papers; other, less academic, articles; a book list and parents organisations.

Lesbians who are Mothers, A Resource List, 1991

U.S. research suggests that there are three times as many male homosexuals as there are female homosexuals. We reject this. We strongly suggest that one of the combined effects of the invisibility of Lesbianism and enforced heterosexuality is that thousands of women go through life either denying their Lesbianism or not being aware of it. It is our belief that the suppression of Lesbian sexuality is the root cause for the high level of depression amongst many females. Feminism and the Gay Liberation Movement have meant that there is more discussion about Lesbianism, particularly amongst white, middle class, females. This has had the effect of thousands of older women coming out as Lesbians later in life, often after having been married and having had children. There has been a great deal of research in the U.S.A. about Lesbians who are mothers and the implications for them and their children. The Resource List makes this research accessible here in Britain and includes abstracts and summaries of research articles which can be obtained through your local library; articles from English publications, books and organisations.

Other publications which we continue to make available include:

Work with Young Lesbians, A Resource List, 1991

There has been little research in Britain concerning the needs of Young Lesbians. We are conducting such research and have uncovered important research papers - from the U.S.A. - which should be known about and be available here in Britain. We believe it is important that those people who come into contact with Young Lesbians - be they health care workers, social workers, youth workers, probation officers, housing workers, teachers, voluntary workers or parents - should be aware of the effects of the invisibility and isolation on Young Lesbians, such as suicide and attempted suicide, homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse. We have therefore put together this list which gives outlines and summaries of research papers, articles, and projects in the U.S.A. and in Britain, a relevant book list, addresses of bookshops, Lesbian Lines, and some Lesbian organisations.

i think i might be a lesbian ... now what do i do? 1991.

This twelve-page pamphlet is aimed at young women who think they are, or know they are, Lesbian and want to know what to do about it. There are quotes from Young Lesbians and sections on: What does it mean to be a Lesbian? How do I know if I'm a Lesbian? Am I normal? What is it like to be Young and Lesbian? Who should I tell? What about sex? Do I have to worry about AIDS? How do we learn to like ourselves? How can I meet other Lesbians? And other useful information like Lesbian Lines, organisations, books to read, bookshops. The pamphlet was written by a Young Lesbian Group in the U.S.A. and has been adapted and reproduced with the permission of the Campaign to End Homophobia.

Lesbians and Housing in Leicester, 1988

This 45-page report is relevant to all housing agencies, although it deals specifically with Lesbians in Leicester. The report examines what Lesbians face living in a Heterosexist society, the effects of which make us especially vulnerable and, at times, in need of supported accommodation. The report contains the complete findings of a survey as well as five case studies, recordings of visits to local hostels and a list of recommendations.

Lesbian Information Service Annual Report, 1987-1988 - Local Activities, 1988

Set in the background of our experience of participating in consultations with Leicester City Council and involvement with one of the local Women's Centres, the Report looks at the different groups LIS was involved with during this period. We outline the problems encountered and conclude with a list of recommendations for local authorities.

Before publishing the Black & Minority Ethnic Lesbians Resource List and the Lesbians, Gays and Social Work Resource List, we sent draft copies to several organisations and Lesbians for comments or suggestions. We were delighted with the responses: we have been made aware of several additions to the former Resource List and comments have included: "Many thanks for putting in the time and effort necessary for such an invaluable list." One Lesbian, who is a social worker, showed the latter Resource List to a senior worker who commented, in amazement, that she never knew such resources existed.

Having produced documents we have then to publicise their existence; we do have problems acquiring publicity (see Publicity).

We are continuing to get good responses from Young Lesbians to the booklet, 'i think i might be a lesbian ... now what do i do?" which is in its 3rd Edition. We have sent out over 500 copies - many of them free to Young Lesbians. We have also been thanked by many organisations and individual workers for the booklet and the "Young Lesbians: Coming Out Pack," both of them for and about Young Lesbians. "Brilliant", "Excellent" have been used to describe their usefulness for work with Young Lesbians. GEMMA, the organisation for Disabled and able-bodied Lesbians, rang us to say how useful it is to send to Young Lesbians who contact them. We are really pleased to know that what we are doing is being effective in supporting Young Lesbians and the people who work with them.

We are about to publish the Lesbians and Housing Pack. A draft copy of "Young Lesbians: Life at 'Home,' Leaving Home and Homelessness" was sent to several Young Lesbians for their comments which are being incorporated.

RESEARCH

During 1990/91 we conducted the first stage of a three-stage project, into the needs of Young Lesbians.
The original research plan included a second stage, in an area where there is some support for Lesbians, for example across the whole of Lancashire or Manchester, with the final stage being across Britain. However, we were unable to acquire further funding (see Annual Report 1990-1991 and Funding). Nevertheless, we have continued the research and, during the last year, we have interviewed a further four.

As well as conducting interviews, a large part of the research is now concentrated on acquiring and reading other research articles, especially from the U.S.A., as this is where much of the research about Homosexuality is done. Most of these papers are available from the British Library and we acquire a copy via our local library. In fact we have now acquired copies all of the articles, from the origianl data search, bar seven. We would like to take this opportunity of acknowledging our gratitude to the Calderdale Library Services.

We are currently in the process of setting up a system for easy retrieval of the information we have acquired and are utilising this information in our work and publications.

It is worth noting that, as a result of our original research, the local authority concerned have recently employed someone to work with Young Lesbians.

JENNY SMITH CAMPAIGN

In October 1991 we read an article by Keith Alcorn in the Pink Paper about a Young Lesbian called Jennifer Smith. Jenny had recently been sentenced to six years imprisonment at Doncaster Crown Court. We read the article and found it difficult to believe that a Young Woman could pose as a man and have a five month affair with another Young Woman without her knowing that she was not female. We acquired copies of the Yorkshire Post and, several telephone calls later, contacted Jenny's solicitor, her Probation Officer, and finally, Jenny herself.

We wrote to Jenny on October 16th and sent her a copy of our "Young Lesbian: Coming Out Pack" and suggested that Jan visit her. She agreed and Jan went to New Hall. On her first visit, Jan also met another Young Lesbian in New Hall who had requested contact with a Lesbian organisation through her Probation Officer. In fact, the Probation Service at New Hall Prison were very supportive of Lesbian Information Service visiting Jenny and other Young Lesbians and, at one point, we were negotiating to set up a Young Lesbian Group within the prison. However, Jenny was moved to Styal Prison and because of the pressure of our other work, as well as starting a campaign to support Jenny, we were unable to pursue the project.

Styal Prison, unfortunately, were not as supportive as New Hall and on one occasion Jan got to the prison only to be told that she couldn't see Jenny. Altogether, Jan visited Jenny twelve times. During this time she felt able to give Jenny personal support through counselling, as well as financial support (see searate Accounts) from money raised through donations.

Whilst some monies were raised in Britain, much of the financial support for Jenny came from the continent. Having sent out press releases (utilising our international contacts), several articles about Jenny appeared in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and Lesbians from those countries sent donations and held fund-raising events. We were able to link up with several groups of Lesbians, from Todmorden, Swindon and London, as well as sending out press releases to the British Gay press and European Lesbian journals.

We found a Lesbian solicitor, who in turn acquired the services of a Gay barrister and advised Jenny to change her solicitor and barrister. After weeks of waiting, during which time we worked with the Probation Service and Jenny's solicitor and barrister, Jenny's Appeal finally came up. Along with Lesbian supporters from other parts of the country, Jan went to the Appeal Courts in London.

Having got to know and care for Jenny over the nine months she had been imprisoned, and having heard the true story, Jan sat in the Appeal Court listening to the Judge stating points in favour and points against, reiterating the so-called evidence that had been given during the original court case. It was joyful to hear the judge say Jenny's sentence was reduced to nine months and that she could go free.

At the same time, however, it was very sad because what we really wanted to hear was that Jenny had been cleared from her conviction. Instead, because Jenny, at the age of 16 years, had had a sexual relationship with another girl of 15 years, she was guilty of indecent assault, a conviction which was upheld. For there to have been real justice, Jenny should have received an apology from those concerned, compensation, and the legal system should have been shown up for the homophobia it perpetuates.

We are proud to be able to say that we supported Jenny over this period and helped her to get out of prison.

Jan Bridget
Lesbian Information Service/
Lesbian Youth Support Information Service

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDING 30TH JUNE 1992

£

£

Income

Sales of Publications			1,436.89
Donations						65.00

TOTAL INCOME

1,501.89

Expenditure

Stationery						137.87
Prinitng, Photocopying					235.00
Telephone						417.17
Travel							140.20
Rates, Electricity, Heating				153.52
Postage, PO Box					263.63
Conf., books, pubs., aud.vis., subs.,			195.21
Cash for Miscellaneous					167.46
Equipment, repair/service				91.98
Insurance						58.18

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

1,860.21

NET LOSS FOR YEAR

£358.32

JENNY SMITH CAMPAIGN
FINANCIAL DETAILS

					EXPENDITURE
									IN
									PERCENTAGES

TOTAL INCOME FOR CAMPAIGN:

£493.02

100%

MAJOR AREAS OF EXPENDITURE:

Prison visits:					£101.69		20.62%
Clothes & effects				£ 83.13		16.86%

Postage/Telephone/Admin/

photocopying

£ 57.04

11.57%

Jenny's expenses following

release:						£105.00		21.30%
Jan's Appeal Expenses:				£ 70.00		14.20%
						_________	_______
						£416.86	84.55%
Balance at bank					£76.16			14.45%

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