Can you hear me now?

I was pleased to read your article about the national GLBT hotline ["A Phone Call Away," December 21]. There is another GLBT helpline, based in Boston, that has been running since 1972 and housed at Fenway Community Health for over 15 years. We provide information, referral, and support on a national, anonymous, toll-free basis to more than 5,500 callers each year. We also offer a peer line for callers under the age of 26 who want to speak to someone closer to their own age.

Lyssa Steponaitis, program coordinator Peer Listening Line and GLBT Helpline Boston, Mass.

[The GLBT Helpline, open every evening, can be reached at (888) 340-GLBT or in Boston at [phone]. The Peer Listening Line, open Monday through Friday evenings, can be reached at (800) 399-PEER, or in Boston at [phone].--Ed.]

Thank you so much for the wonderful article about us. With parts of our country increasingly hostile toward our community, many of the calls we receive here at the Gay and Lesbian National Hotline are from people expressing a genuine fear for their future. But they also express relief that there is still a safe place for them to call and talk about their lives.

Brad Becker, executive director Gay and Lesbian National Hotline San Francisco, Calif.

[The hotline, open Monday through Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons, can be reached toll-free at (888) THE-GLNH, in New York City at [phone], in San Francisco at [phone], and online at www.glnh.org.--Ed.]