Monday, January 26, 2015

When I'm Sixty-Four

When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?

Beatles

Our pioneers are blazing the trail once again, this time in senior centers and nursing homes.
Seniors in the LGBTQ community need not grow old alone
Participants discuss the future of the senior programming at the LGBTQ Center in Las Vegas on Dec. 11, 2014.
Los Vegas Sun
By Jackie Valley
Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015

When 64-year-old Gary Payne retired as a nurse, he encountered a problem many seniors face: boredom.

But as a gay man — he recently married his partner of 37 years — Payne said he didn’t feel entirely comfortable at Southern Nevada’s many senior centers. Most are filled predominantly with straight retirees.
“You feel like you’re the only person who is different,” Payne said.

The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada hopes to reach people like Payne with new senior programming. Called ACT III, short for “aging communities together,” the programming aims to provide a safe haven for people 50 and older who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual or two-spirit, as well as their allies, said Holly Reese, senior and transgender programs manager for the Center.
Here in Connecticut the senior centers are stepping in to the gap, three towns have gotten together to hold events for LGBT seniors. I went to the first event which was a coffee house and there were about 20 – 25 people who came to listen to the music and to socialize with others. For one gay couple it was the first time that they went out, they are shut-ins, they thought the coffee house was fabulous.

When I go to the photo club at my town’s senior center, I feel a little awkward even though they have treated me very well and have used proper pronouns.
“The younger generation takes for granted sometimes a lot of things the older generation has had to fight and spill their blood to get,” Reese said.
And we are still fighting for. 

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