At the time, Donahue, … Copyright © 2019 Salon.com, LLC. They came out to family members, including Bolan, 15 years later. The two lived in the city together for decades — establishing a close-knit circle of gay friends who both knew of and lovingly supported their partnership, while they knew their conservative family members likely would not — before moving to St. Charles, a Chicago suburb in 1994. "Just maybe not the 'seven-year project' bug.". And I've started to get emails from people who send me pictures of their family members, like 'These are my uncles,' or 'This is my grandmother, and I found out that she had a relationship, too.'". In the summer of 2009, "A Secret Love" director Chris Bolan and his wife went to visit his great aunt, Terry Donahue, and her close friend, Pat Henschel. Pat and Terry had lived together for decades. Telling this story would ultimately take seven years, between funding limitations and dedicated filming time, but the result is a tender portrait of Donahue and Henschel's love that runs just under 90 minutes. The film was produced by Ryan Murphy and executive produced by Jason Blum under his Blumhouse banner. It's a fraught conversation. "It has been extremely gratifying to see how these LGBTQ themes clearly resonate for a wide range of audiences. In this one documentary, you've got four or five big connecting themes." The movie lovingly follows the over 70-year romance between Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel — two women who met in the late '40s and hid their love for years. "Even if it's not their story, I think everyone watching will see something they relate to.". It gives voice to an entire generation of LGBTQ storytellers who — due to age and loss of life during the AIDS epidemic — we are rapidly losing. "A Secret Love," which was originally slated by a SXSW debut, is now streaming on Netflix. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel in "A Secret Love" (Netflix) Inside Netflix's tender tearjerker, "A Secret Love," and taking on queer erasure Filmmaker Chris Bolan delves into his … producer Brendan Mason said. It was her off-season; she normally played for the Peoria Redwings in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the organization upon which "A League of Their Own" was based. But when we fastforward a few years, and see the couple — now in their 80s — take their marriage vows, it's clear the strength of their love, though largely hidden from the world, was never in question. The best part? It might have been just one more night, a single night of seven. "Since my sons were born, I've realized how much of my work is an investigation of the idea of family and queer stories told within that framework," says Murphy. It’s all 100 percent true. After all, as Bolan lays out in the film, Henschel and Donahue came of age in a time when police would seize patrons from gay and lesbian bars, arrest them and then publicly shame them by ensuring their names were printed in the newspaper. Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel met in 1947, when Henschel was just 18, and Donahue was a 22-year-old catcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. "But after a few rum and cokes, which is their drink of choice, they said, 'We have something to tell you — we're gay,'" Bolan said. And in the end, that is the power of "A Secret Love." Pat Henschel, left, and Terry Donahue fell in love in their early 20s. They were just my Aunt Terry and Aunt Pat.". The women both grew up in Saskatchewan, a province of Canada, and met while playing ice hockey in Moose Jaw, Canada. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. When asked if they would continue working in the documentary space, Fogel said "absolutely. At once point, the two find an old love letter. "You have to remember, they were both at one point engaged to men, both dated men when they were younger. Donahue has some worsening health issues and while Henschel obviously wants to see her cared for, she obviously feared that the couple would face a certain level of homophobia and isolation in a community that had never had any openly gay couples as residents. "A Secret Love" is currently streaming on Netflix.