The role of friendship in the development and maintenance of lesbian love relationships was investigated by means of a structured interview with 23 lesbian women. Friendship was found to be a key factor in the development of the respondents' first same-sex love relationships; the first sexual/romantic relationship often grew out of an established friendship between the women. Also, friendship was found to be a prime developmental and maintenance factor in the women's current relationships; 78% stated that their current lover had first been their friend, and 77% stated that their current lover had become their closest friend. Some related issues, such as development of a lesbian identity and definitional differences between "lover" and "friend," were also examined. A theoretical discussion interpreting the friendship findings within a feminist framework of women-identification is included.
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Victoria A. Vetere (1982) studied this question.