In late August, Jane Gross, a senior writer at the New York Times, contacted the LGBT Aging Project about doing a story on aging in the gay community. Jane arrived in Boston in September and spent several days immersing herself in LGBT Aging Issues. She observed our Open Door Task Force training at North Shore Elder Services and led a discussion at Café Emmanuel, the lunch site for LGBT Seniors and their friends that Ethos sponsors.  She also had one-on-one interviews with a number of LGBT Seniors around Boston including folks from Boston Prime Timers, Ole (Older Lesbian Energy) and Stonewall Communities.  

On October 9^th "Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight" appeared on the front page of the New York Times. Since the story hit the press we have received calls from all over the world, including Australia, France, and New Zeeland .  The story was picked up by a large number of news sources including the Gay Financial News, The Advocate, and the Telegraph, a London newspaper. Our website had 1,200 visitors in the first week of the story's release.

You can read the story on our website: http://lgbtagingproject.org

We now have a whole new look out there in cyber land. Reminiscent of the famous moment in The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy stepped out of the black and white farmhouse into a vibrant technicolor Oz; our new website is no longer black and white, but vibrant and engaging.

Our new site is filled with hundreds of resources for LGBT Seniors and service providers who wish to learn more about aging and caregiving in the gay community. Some of the features in the site include a comprehensive resource list for LGBT Seniors, elder resources, and list of recommended books, videos, and research on LGBT Aging.  The site also gives an introduction to the LGBT Aging Project including our mission and information about our various services, programs and trainings. We have a searchable index of the latest news that relates to LGBT Aging, a calendar of upcoming events, and a photo gallery of past events. This link will take you directly to our website. Take a look around, make yourself at home!  Please let us know what else we can add to the site that would be useful to you.

The Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Political Caucus and the LGBT Aging Project hosted a reception on October 16 to welcome Mike Festa, Governor Patrick's recent appointment as the Secretary of Elder Affairs, along wth Under Secretary Sandy Albright.

Over 50 people came to the event, held at Ethos in Jamaica Plain, to warmly welcome Secretary Festa, who has been a loyal friend and advocate to elders and the LGBT community.  Guests included staff and directors from local elder service agencies, LGBT Elders and representatives from several LGBT community organizations.  

In September, after a intensive outreach campaign, we welcomed a group of 45 older LBT women for a fun and engaging brunch at Christopher's in Porter Square. Special thanks to Ethos for underwriting a portion of the expences for the meal. 

This was one of the first events bringing together LBT women from a variety of social groups like OLE (Older Lesbian Energy) Ova4D (The Over 40 Social Networking Group for LBT Women) and LAFFAN (Lesbians Available for Fun and Networking). The event also brought urban and suburban women together.   

Participants completed a brief survey to indicate their interest in future events. Based on the results of that survey, we are pleased to announce that Ethos and the LGBT Aging Project will be co-sponsoring a monthly brunch for older LBT women and their friends.

The first, monthly Out-To-Brunch will be held Saturday December 1^st from 11:00am to 1pm at Ethos, 555 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain. There is plenty of free parking in the lot, and the Green Street Subway Station (Orange Line) is across the street. Suggested donation for women over 60 is $1.75. The meal is $5 for anyone under 60.

To RSVP for the meal please call Bob Linscott at (617) 522-6700 by Monday November 26. 

Each month we will feature a different group or organization doing interesting work in the area of LGBT Aging and Caregiving.

For our first issue, we turn our spotlight on Franklin County Home Care Corp. (FCHCC), located in Turner's Falls in Western Massachusetts. It is easy to assume that much of the progressive work and outreach to LGBT Seniors is happening in the urban areas, which is why we wanted to highlight the great work that FCHCC has undertaken.

In February 2005, under the leadership of Executive Director Roseanne Martocia, FCHCC enrolled in the Open Door Task Force  (The LGBT Aging Project's training and consultation program to help elder service agencies to be more inclusive of LGBT Seniors). In June 2006, after focusing on training their staff, FCHCC began an outreach to their local LGBT community. Their first event was a breakfast for LGBT Seniors to come, socialize and share the issues that were important to them. This group was also helpful in identifying the barriers that prevented them from accessing some services. The event was a huge success drawing over 30 seniors. 

In early September 2007, FCHC hosted their second program, "Plan Protect and Provide: Legal Issues for LGBT Seniors."  The program featured two guest speakers, Attorney Susan Shauger and Attorney Jan Stiefel (pictured above with Roseanne Martocia, far right). Both attorneys discussed estate planning, end-of-life planning, marriage issues, state vs federal benefits. This second program was also a success with about 25 seniors in attendance.

If you would like to share the work your organization has done with or for LGBT Seniors, please contact us.

Present at the Creation:  The Birth of  the Gay-Straight Alliance - Safe Schools Movement

Panel discussion: November 19, 2007

6:30 to 8:15 pm

Free

43 Hawes Street Brookline, MA

Wheelock College, Brookline Campus

For more info: Visit: