The war transformed her routine existence. She eventually settled into a series of secretarial jobs, most notably with a travel agency in Mayfair. Unhappy at home and keen to escape, she twice during her teens ran away from home to join troupes of travelling actors. Rose grew up in Deptford, south-east London, daughter of Arthur Laimbeer, a merchant seaman who was absent for much of her childhood, and his wife, Rose. She was a frequent speaker at universities, churches and medical seminars, and was a regular on TV and radio throughout the 1970s and 80s. She won public support from the agony aunts Marjorie Proops and Claire Rayner. Authorities which had been wary of supporting criminalised gay teenagers (the age of gay consent was equalised at 16 only in 2001), were impressed by Rose's family-oriented approach. She was also targeted by homophobes, with arson attacks on her home, excrement dumped on her doorstep and abusive phone calls and hate mail.įrom the mid-70s onwards, a growing number of referrals came from the police and social services. Occasionally, she was verbally abused or physically attacked by irate parents. Often she mediated between parents and their offspring, nearly always successfully. These came from distressed gay teens and from parents who were variously bewildered, distraught, angry, guilty, ashamed and hostile towards their children's homosexuality. Rose was soon flooded with phone calls and letters, at a rate of around 100 a week.
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