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t is no secret that the United States has an
aging population. But it might as well be a
big secret that gay men and lesbians are
getting older right along with the rest of
J1 L . the country, as very little has been said or
written about these folks— and even less done to
meet their needs.
That all will be changing in the near future
if a recently formed Portland group has its way.
T he Elder G L B T Outreach Com m ittee is mak
ing tremendous strides in trying to connect with
queer seniors; more importantly, it is working
diligently to figure out what their specific needs
are and how they can he met.
Paul larrobino, a gay man who works with
Multnomah County Aging and Disability Serv
ices, is one of several people who helped get the
group off the ground. He is quick to give credit to
Vaune Alhanese, a lesbian who works as assistant
director of Friendly House, a nonprofit agency
that decided a few years ago that there was a
need to reach out to sexual minority elders.
Shortly thereafter, larrobino went to a
national aging conference and learned that his
colleagues across the country were starting
queer-specific programs and services. He decid
ed it was time to get involved.
“1 came hack from the conference hopeful,”
larrobino says. “I called together a small group,
and we’ve been meeting ever since.”
larrobino is grateful to the Friendly House
staff and the endless volunteers who have
stepped forward. A lot of people have put in a
lot of time, he notes.
Although the group really has been rolling
for only a year, it has accomplished a great deal.
T he first big step was planning a social event
connected with the Portland Gay M en’s Chorus
Vintage Voices concert.
“It was a major success,” larrobino says. “Stu
dents from the Reed [College] Queer Alliance
hosted the event. W ith the help o f the Friendly
House, we were able to get seniors there to see
the event that ordinarily wouldn’t have either
known about it or would have had problems get
G ray A rea
Committee reaches out to sexual minority elders
by T om S tev en son
G enerations mingle prior to the Portland Gay M en’s Chorus V intage V oices concert last M arch
at Reed College
ting to and from the event. T he folks at Friendly
House sold the tickets and provided transporta
tion for people who needed extra assistance.
Also, an ‘angel’ in our group made a generous
donation so that people who were low-income
could take advantage of a sliding scale.”
T h e group also recently provided an "elderly
hospitality center” during the Creating Change
conference in Portland. According to larrobino,
it was a “smashing success.”
“We provided a fun and relaxing space for
older people to visit during the conference,” he
says. “It was a very moving experience.”
In addition, the committee recently was
awarded $5,000 from Seattle’s Pride
Foundation and $2,700 from Portland’s
Equity Foundation to fight homopho
bia in the aging provider program.
Rainbow Train, a Seattle nonprofit
organization that increases cultural
competency about queer seniors, will
teach a core group of Portlanders how
to accomplish this goal.
“We are very excitad about that,”
larrobino says. “We will he providing
sensitivity training to agency staff
around homophobia and how it relates
to sexual minority elders. Providers are
T h e Elder G L B T O utreach Com m ittee meets monthly
asking for this type of training, as it
at Friendly House
really has not been offered before.”
Alhanese is pleased that the com m ittee’s
work has been recognized. “It looks like
w e...will be able to provide even more training
than we originally anticipated,” she says.
T he group’s dozen members have a number
o f ideas about what to do in the future, hut def
inite plans will wait until their upcoming strate
gic meeting. T he reality, however, is that much
work remains to be done for queer seniors.
“Our community, like the population in gen
eral, is growing older," Alhanese says. “T h e lead
ing edge of the hahy boom generation is inching
toward 60. There will be more and more queer
old folks who will need services. Now is the time
to jump on board and create programs and serv
ices that work for elder lesbians and gay men.”
Committee member Ric King, who remains
plenty active at 77, says housing, health care and
other issues are urgently important to the aging sex
ual minority population. “Federal, state and local
elder programs do not address G LBT elder needs."
King notes that a general sense of disconnect
from formal family ties and “reliance on peer
extended family and gay friends make elder
health care and end-of-life issues different” for
queers. He also thinks the gay, lesbian, bi and
trans community is not overly supportive of the
elderly population in its midst.
“G L B T groups pay lip service” to the elder
issues, he says. “But general ageism dilutes effec
tive support and respect of and about elders.
O ne-on-one contacts work but is not within the
mission o f most G L B T associations."
Alhanese also is frustrated by the lack of
attention given to this rapidly growing segment
of the sexual minorities community.
“Growing up we all heard our parents admon
ish us to respect our elders,” she says. “Unfortu
nately, that maxim seems to be missing in our
society today. And G L B T elders take a double hit
because not only are they old and disrespected
and not paid attention to, they’re gay or lesbian
and disrespected and not paid attention to. W e’re
only just now scratching the surface when it
comes to providing respectful services.” JH1
For more information about the E lder G LBT
O u trea ch C om m ittee contact Paul larrobino at
503-988-3620 or [xml.ianobinc@co.multnijmah.or.us
or Eileen McClary at 503-224-2640 or
emcclary@fnendyhousemc. org.
is a Portland free-lance writer who
is at the "lower end" o f the baby boom er generation.
H e can be reached at m raltom @ yahoo.com .
T o m STEVENSON
C ommunity R esources
• Conversations Project: Group giving
elders a forum to share concerns, issues, hopes
and frustrations about aging in the sexual
minorities community with younger counter
parts. 503-227-0605.
• 5 0 + : Lesbian social group for women.
Meets from 4 to 7 p.m. on the third Saturday
of the month. 503-642-3360 or 503-286-3575.
• Funny Ladies Tea and Posey Society:
Social group for lesbians 35 and older. Meets
for a potluck on the second Saturday of the
month. 503-760-0816 or flataps@aol.com.
• Old Lesbians Organizing for Change:
Portland chapter of a national lesbian organiza-
tion for women 6 0 and older interested in
changing the social disease of ageism. Meets
1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month.
503-286-3575.
• Portland Metro Prime Tuners: Social
group for mature gay men— and those who
appreciate them— coming together for social,
educational and cultural purposes. 503-286-4613,
360-254-1718, pdxprimetimers@yahqo.com or
www.geocities.com/pdxprimetimers.
• Senior Housing and Retirement Enter
prises: Coalition laying the groundwork for
future gay and lesbian senior housing in the
Portland area. 503-286-3575.
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