Netflix’s new documentary A Secret Love, charting a lesbian couple’s decades-long secret romance, is leaving everyone extremely emotional.
The film follows the 65-year secret relationship between baseball star Terry Donahue and partner Pat Henschel. The pair met in 1947 when Donahue was 22 and Henschel 18.
Netflix explains, “Terry played in the women’s professional baseball league, inspiring the hit movie A League Of Their Own.
“But the film did not tell the real-life story of the women who remained closeted for most of their lives.
“This documentary follows Terry and Pat back to when they met for the first time, through their professional lives in Chicago, coming out to their conservative families and grappling with whether or not to get married.
“Facing the hardships of ageing and illness, their love proves resilient as they enter the home stretch.”
‘A Secret Love’ is making viewers cry
A Secret Love arrived on Netflix today, and many were left in tears by the couple’s incredible love story.
Me watching Terry and Pat’s 72 year love story #ASecretLove 😭🌈♥️ pic.twitter.com/hGAHAfGvh2
— Edelfa Romano (@EdelfaRomano) April 29, 2020
this part really broke my heart #ASecretLove pic.twitter.com/xIeVlgqgng
— kayla (@kaylabers) April 29, 2020
Thank you @netflix for #ASecretLove pic.twitter.com/KRwCP6n4hS
— Cora💎 (@SoftHBIC) April 29, 2020
If it’s not love like Pat Herschel and Terry Donahue I don’t want it. #ASecretLove
— Kendall (@kendally_13) April 30, 2020
I CAN’T BREATHE 😫😫#ASecretLove pic.twitter.com/pSSuPK4L3z
— mon dot com (@MonikaCuervo) April 30, 2020
This just broke my heart wide open. These stories are so important to tell. So grateful I got to see theirs. The ageing process and what comes with it is brutal but man their love is pure FIRE. I’m going to be crying about this for DAYS. #ASecretLove pic.twitter.com/DNZktlkbaO
— Mia (@marielouise_82) April 29, 2020
been sobbing for the majority of this film no joke #ASecretLove
— Lewis Reeds (@LewisReeds) April 29, 2020
I just finished #asecretlove and I’m sobbing. SOBBING. 😭❤️
— Natalie (@Nataliecarterrr) April 29, 2020
Vale Terry Donahue
Chris Bolan, who is also Donahue’s great-nephew, made the documentary A Secret Love. He said the two women only revealed their relationship to him in 2009.
“After a couple of rum and cokes – their drink of choice – they sat us down and told us they were gay,” Bolan recalled.
“They began blurting out the story of their life together. I knew at that moment I needed to tell this story.
Bolan went on to put together the documentary over several years until 2018.
Sadly, Terry Donahue died on March 14 last year, aged 93, following a battle with Alzheimer’s.
Near the end of the film, Bolan asks Donahue, “You kind of broke the rules your whole life, haven’t you?”
Donahue responds, “Yes, I have. That’s why I’m happy. No regrets – I’d do it all over again.”
For the latest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
