Stephanie Daniels & Anita Tedder

Steph was born in 1948 in Bedford and Anita in 1954 in Egham, Surrey. They are a lesbian couple who have been together for 44 years. They both attended Bedford PE College, but not at the same time. Anita tried to start a lesbian support group there, but was told she was ‘sick’, was evicted by her flatmates and had a breakdown. There were no role models for being a lesbian until Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova came out. The film ‘Desert Hearts’ was important. Veronica Pickles and John Moore were key figures locally. Anita was singer/songwriter in a band called The Crew, which won the Melody Maker Rock competition in 1980, but split shortly after when members were ‘outed’ by a journalist. She formed an all-girl trio called Zenana and Steph managed them. Anita became a counsellor after her music career. Steph moved up to Further Education and then the University of Bedfordshire where she was able to be a role model for some adult students. They went to the discos at the OU and The Cannon in Newport Pagnell and volunteered with Switchboard in the late ‘70s. Most events were communicated by word of mouth as the LGB media of the time was difficult to get hold of. Fellow gays could be identified by an onyx ‘gay ring’ worn on the little finger. They were involved in gay rights and feminism and were active in the protests against Clause 28.