I am 74 was in first stonewall parade in 1969. I now live in a small town due to what I can afford alone no family or friends. Was so so out and now in closet again
Of all the challenges associated with advancing age, this has to be one of the most painful and isolating. Aging involves many experiences of loss - that's the way of it for most of us. Having to hide one's personal identity is a loss akin to the loss of self in Alzheimer's disease. At least in Alzheimer's you forget who and what you once were; you live in the moment. Not so if you must hide and deny your true self; you know it and feel the pain of it each day. This is an important film to raise awareness about an issue many might never stop to consider.
A couple of these comments have enraged me and I just can't imagine what the hell is wrong with some people ?! It's still fashionable for some people/groups to be hateful about something they know nothing about but yet feel the need to offer unsolicited advice, hateful comments or opinions? this Documentary is about an extremely important issue and the reality is that heterosexual elders suffer from some of the same issues but for gay elders in nursing homes or hospitals or retirement villages etc. are "forced" into a state of fear because of their sexuality alone and becoming old/older forces them have to think twice about everything they say or do because of the fear of mistreatment or retaliation from careworkers/staff and their personal/religious views! These people have paid a horrible price all their lives and these issues aren't something they should ever have to think about at this point in their lives...
I wish more of the younger LGBT would feel the same way you do. Most of the ones I know don't care about the older gay population, its all about them. At 75 I hope I see a day where these people will understand how hard it was to be gay in the 50s/60s/ and 70s.
This is so important. I am an chaplain at a hospital. We need to fight for the dignity, equality of our LGBT elders. They fought a fight for equality so that they, younger generation to have equal rights, be able to live free.
This is what I’m going to have to do when I become a senior as well. If I’m lucky enough to end up in a nursing home, I’ll have to hide, because when I visit my grandma who’s chosen to live her last years in a(n expensive, mind you), nursing home, I see the bigoted and close-minded environment that surrounds her. It’s not a problem for her, but it would be for me.
My family was good but they were afraid I would die alone. I work every day to bring life to around me. The gay thing… is reflective of something larger.
I worry that when my husband is gone and will not have. The life that I wish I could. Want to have or with another partner to share my last days now at going on 61.
It is indeed so much safer to be because even in the 21st century there is still an extremely high level of homophobia and intolerance as it's still not completely accepted ! Still illegal in more than 72 countries. They say it's safer to come out now these days but I know how wrong they are, only recently I heard some derogatory comment about a man dressed as a woman, behind his back of course, and in the last five years the homophobic attacks have increased. People don't see the reality of it and know the true statistics. It's nobodies business what sexual orientation is, people have the right to live privately and safely !. They say they have come along way in 50 years, but believe me, there is still a much longer way to go, longer than they actually realize. Only the law has changed, not personal attitudes and ignorance, there is homophobia in sport, and in the police force, the Army.
