Gay seniors chicago
3 LGBT seniors and 1 youth: Here are their coming out stories
SAN FRANCISCO -- Coming out is never easy, but before the s, it was illegal to be gay. Even as recently as , the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a sociopathic ego disturbance in its diagnostic manual. We interviewed three LGBT seniors and one youth on the difference in their coming out experiences.
"I'm 75 years senior and I came out as a gay guy two years ago," says Jim Kisthardt an Queer senior who only came out after his wife of 51 years passed away in
Coming out is never easy but before the s, it was still illegal to be gay.
"Times were very different. Being gay would be a curse. Entity gay was one of the worst things you could bring to your family, worse than divorce," Kisthardt says.
He said that people who came out in the s and s would be ostracized and would have to move away.
He said telling his parents in those days was never an option.
"I jus
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Affinity Community Services
S. Wabash Ave #, Chicago, IL
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Mission: Affinity is a social justice organization serving the needs of the Black Queer community with a particular focus on Black women.
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
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Mission: AFC mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to HIV or chronic conditions.
Alzheimer’s Association
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American Veterans for Equivalent Rights (AVER) Chicago
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Mission: AVER is a non-profit, non-partisan, chapter-based Veterans Service Company of active, reserve, and veteran service me
Once a symbol of gay hate, an old Chicago police station now a haven for Homosexual seniors
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A building in the Lakeview neighborhood, once a symbol of oppression for homosexuals, is now a haven for gay senior citizens.
The old Town Hall Police Station, on the corner of Halsted and Addison, was part of a dim era of LGBTQ oppression. Don Bell, a historian and gay activist, knows about that history.
&#;When I was little, gay men were arrested and spent weekends here,&#; Bell said. &#;And then [they] appeared in queer lists in public, in newspapers, destroying their personal and professional lives.&#;
The building has since been converted into a senior housing facility for LGBTQ seniors, the Town Hall Apartments, co-owned by Center on Halsted, a historic LGBT community center in Chicago,
&#;We were born demonized, and that&#;s the world we came into, and since that period, we have made tremendous progress on that,&#; Bell, a resident, said.
That progress certainly did not happen overnight. The simple act of touching someone of the same sex was still considered a crime in Illinois
LGBT Retirement Communities in Chicago
Chicago has a reputation as one of the most LGBT-friendly cities going, and the city specifically extends its welcome to gay, sapphic, bisexual, and transgender seniors. With extensive senior services and housing at the Midwest’s biggest LGBT society center, state-recognized marriage equality, and the world’s best gay neighborhood, the Windy City has an outstanding climate for LGBT seniors.
A leading regional LGBT center
The LGBT Center on Halsted hosts about a thousand visitors daily, seven days a week. The Center provides services such as legal advocacy and health screenings in a complex that includes a Whole Foods grocery store, rooftop garden, gym, performance space, and a computer lab. For seniors, the Center and SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Female homosexual, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders) boyfriend to provide:
- lunch four days a week;
- volunteer-advocate training courses;
- benefits counseling;
- support groups;
- meditation classes; and
- film screenings.
Senior programming is offered at both the Center on Halsted and at the Cente