Providing an essential community service since 1979, the Dublin Lesbian Line have been tireless in their support of those who need it. Peter Dunne speaks to the people behind the line that is not just for Dublin, and not just for lesbians.

“We want to be inclusive of all female identified people, to make sure trans women feel included, for non binary that prefer female spaces, sometimes that includes people that have female bodies who don’t necessarily identify as female but who might need access to female services, like sexual health. So our purpose is to provide support for the community in whatever way that they want.” So says the coordinator of Dublin Lesbian Line, Laura Louise Condell. Because of the need for confidentiality the names of the volunteers who answer the phones will be changed for this article.

The DLL started in 1974 as part of Tel-A-Friend, which is the second oldest LGBT helpline in the world. Around the time of the beginning of the HIV crisis, Tel-A-Friend split into the Dublin Lesbian Line and Gay Switchboard in order to best deal with the needs of the community. It was a different time back then, as Condell details: “Back in the day lots of people didn’t have house phones or didn’t want us calling their house so they would ring and leave a message on an answering machine and say they would be at a phone box at a certain time and the volunteer would call them. Because of that history, DLL have a policy to offer to call people back.”

Even though societal attitudes may have changed, one of the main reasons why people contact the line has not - “ One of the biggest things we encounter is loneliness and social exclusion. The people who call us most on the phone, no matter what age, what part of the country, what gender, are lonely. They don’t have anyone to connect with. They can’t find their community.”

With that in mind, since 2014, the DLL has made huge steps to become more than (an essential) helpline. Condell describes an event they organised called Finding Your Community - “People came from Kerry, Kilkenny, Kildare, Galway, Westmeath, Carlow, one person travelled for ten hours just to come. It was a workshop on how to build friendships and build connections. Also making friends on social media, because when they are in counties where there is nothing social, media is very important- from Facebook chat groups to the DLL newsletter.

“We held a conversation cafe as well. We broke up into groups and did 15 minute chats on gender identity, ageing and coming out. It was a short introduction to those topics to get people talking.”

That’s just the beginning for their plans to branch out. They will soon start a project looking at the sexual harassment of LGBT+ women. “Because of MeToo and people not knowing where the line of consent is, we have worked so much through the helpline on the area of sexual violence.”

As the DLL plays such an important role in the community, it may come as a surprise that it is completely funded on donations and run with the help of volunteers. Condell elaborates: “We are the only core LGBT+ organisation in the country that isn’t funded. It is very hard to get funding for female specific services because they are not seen as a priority. We have the passion, we have the drive but without basic things like money, we can’t train new volunteers, we cant update things.” On a personal note, for anyone planning fundraising events to support the queer community, here’s a worthy group deserving of attention.

When funding does arrive, the DLL have their next area of focus – sexual health. Condell describes why this is so important, “There is just no visibility in our community at all for female sexual health and it is a serious issue, for example that lack of conversation means that women don’t think that they need to be tested for anything. There’s this idea we can’t get STIs but a lot of women are finding out in their 30’s that they have undiagnosed STIs and they can’t necessarily get pregnant now Or they have had chlamydia for years, or there are cervical abnormalities, all because they are told that they don’t need to be tested or they didn’t think they needed to. We really want to hold a community stakeholders meeting to bring people together and to talk about how important this is and to raise some visibility.”

For any helpline, without the incredible people ready to answer the phones and provide a listening ear, it couldn’t exist. So what makes someone want to help their community? Jane* told us the reasons behind her decision - “I came out a bit later, around 24/25 and wanted to find my community. got very involved with marriage equality and activism. It really spurred me on, just being around people like that, so looking up different ways to volunteer, saw DLL. applied and I’m so glad that did.”

Jane highlighted just how unique the service is: “That fact that it is a female led and a female run organisation is very important. feel like there’s nothing out there very focused on female issues, and obviously when say that mean anyone who identifies as female. think that’s very empowering because feel like female stuff can get left behind a little bit. Especially sexual health. There’s no funding put into that at all.”

Charlie, another volunteer who uses they/them pronouns, elaborates: “I myself am non binary and it was something that wondered about going into this setting, but remember the ad looking for volunteers was explicitly clear that they accept volunteers who relate in any way towards femaleness, femininity, that kind of thing, as well as people who are across the LGBTQIA spectrum. That is a big thing. I personally think people calling knowing they are going to be talking to somebody who is female or who identifies with femininity. Some people still do feel easier talking to women about certain things, and think it’s really important to have this dedicated space. If you ring some other helplines you might get a male volunteer or a female volunteer or gender queer volunteers, you never know, but with DLL you know the kind of volunteer you are getting.”

So what does an evening volunteering with the Line look like? Charlie describes: “We usually arrive in about a half an hour before the line opens. There are always either two or three of us in the office at a time. It is very relaxed. Obviously you never know when a call is going to come and a chat is going to start, but we always begin our shift with a check in with each other just to see how we are doing, physically, emotionally, mentally, so we can best support each other.”

Ann* continues: “You talk about how you are feeling, what you are bringing into the room that day ‘I’ve had a stressful day at work, I’m not feeling great,’ so everyone is then aware of how you are and they can help you, or be like ‘I’ll deal with x, y and z as you may not be up for it today’. Then you do a check out when you are leaving, so if somebody is struggling after a call, or somebody’s not feeling great, whoever is there with them can say ‘Let’s go for a tea, let’s talk, lets sit in the car and have a chat until you’re okay.”

Charlie adds: “We have a monthly meeting that is designed specifically for us to talk about stuff that might have stuck with us. It’s an extremely good support system. We can also contact the organiser at any time. She is fantastic at looking after our wellbeing, because, in her view, the line wouldn’t be able to run without it’s volunteers, so you have to look after them, and she does a brilliant job.”

Having the opportunity to make such a welcome difference to the lives and mental wellbeing of those in need can’t help but affect the volunteers, as Charlie finishes “Volunteering with DLL has been an extremely positive experience. have come away from every shift, whether it’s chock full of calls or whether we go through a few emails, feeling like Ive done something meaningful.”

If you would like to contact DLL to avail of their services or to support them through donation, they can be reached at www.dublinlesbianline.ie or at 01-8729911.