The support that Outback gave to the lesbian community in Cornwall was far beyond just a newsletter detailing events. It was a place to share your thoughts, feelings and ideas about identity and belonging, or even just a really good recipe. It was a place to share. This level of peer to peer support was invaluable, and from chatting to some of the women involved with Outback, it was considered a lifeline to finding other women like you. It really created a strong community of support.
Outback was consistent, in all 150 issues, in having crisis helplines published on the newsletter’s back page. This eventually grew into a greater ‘classifieds’ section, which shared places to go for LGBTQ+ friendly holidays, rooms to let, moving services and handy women. It really gave a sense that all of your household needs could be kept within the community. The existence of a ‘classifieds’ section definitely gives the impression that it was considered easier to hire other lesbians – you didn’t have to have the awkward (and potentially dangerous) ‘gay’ conversation with the house movers or a plumber, you could hire one of our own.
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The ‘letters’ section of the Outback was always pages and pages in length. Before the advent of the internet, writing letters and issuing responses was a popular way of communicating ideas in magazines and newsletters – a precursor to the ‘online forum’.
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One aspect of Outback that truly captures the zeitgeist of the time are the drawings and poetry found within the collection. A few of them are published below:
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