A gay rights pioneer, who created the first helpline for parents and their gay children in the 1960s, has died aged 94.
Through the helpline and her work as a speaker on television and radio over the course of 30 years, Rose Robertson “highlighted a social need” and helped do something about it, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said.
Tatchell described how Robertson’s work as a wartime SOE agent led her to her first encounter with gay relationships.
“Robertson told me that during her wartime work in France an incident occurred which contributed to her later embrace of the gay rights cause,” he said.
“She was billeted with two young male French Resistance agents. One night she entered their room and found them in an embrace. There was mutual embarrassment all round. Not a word was said for three days. Rose knew nothing about homosexuality and was curious. She eventually plucked up the courage to ask them. Both men told stories of family prejudice and rejection. Their story affected her deeply. She was shocked that parents could be so heartless towards their gay children.“
It was that encounter, and the later discovery of similar prejudice towards her two gay lodgers from their parents, that made Robertson act. In 1965 she set up the Parent Enquiry helpline from her South London home.
The helpline soon had more than 100 phone calls and letters a week from distressed teenagers and parents, and before long, there were increasing numbers of referrals from the police and social services. Her role in gay rights grew and Robertson soon became a notable speaker on television and radio throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
“Her legacy is that she helped thousands of parents and lesbian, gay and bisexual teenagers find understanding, acceptance and reconciliation,” Tatchell said.
“Until she began Parents Enquiry, gay children’s parents were unrecognised and unsupported. Robertson highlighted a social need. Her pioneering work was replicated by others and it continues today through the services provided by Friends and Families of Lesbians And Gays (FFLAG) and Parents, Friends (& Family) of Lesbians And Gays (PFLAG).”
Robertson died peacefully in her sleep and is survived by her sons Paul and Chris.
