“I remember my 50s were tough. As you get older, you walk down the street and people don’t even look at you. It’s weird the way we treat people that are older, and especially in West Hollywood, where everybody wants to be young and beautiful.
I think we’re past that as a gay community. I hope. You know, I think that also had a lot to do with the bar scene, which has been curtailed. But even before that, back in my day — I got here [to California] in ’82 — all you had were the bars; you’d go to the bars. That’s just where you went to see other gay people and meet other gay people. Now I think, ‘My gosh, we have everything. We have choirs. And we have gay camping. We have gay this, we have gay that.’ There’s a lot of ways, plus the internet, where you can meet people.
My generation, we went through so much. I remember I walked up to these young kids holding hands in Kitchen 24 [in West Hollywood] and I just said, ‘You have no idea what we went through so you guys could…’ — and then all of a sudden it hit me: Oh my god, I don’t want to be that, like your granddad who would say, ‘You kids have no idea what we went through!’ I thought, ‘Oh my god! It’s the same thing!’ They were like, ‘Yeah, uh-huh, go on, Pop-Pop.'”–Actor and Instagram icon Leslie Jordan, on the changing gay community. Jordan told journalist Chris Azzopardi that ageism is less an issue in the community, and that he does not want to be seen as a preachy old man.
Monkey1
The problem is that the younger generation doesn’t even care about what others went through. The sense of entitlement with them is incredible. They should know that others had to struggle.
Creamsicle
That entitlement is a good thing when the topic of discussion is expanding civil RIGHTS.
Letting your oppressor control which of your rights are reasonable is negotiating against yourself and legitimizing the prejudices against gay people.
glennmcbride
You can say the same thing about every generation. When I was young, I could not imagine a time when gay people could marry and even speak openly about their sexuality. It was very difficult keeping that important part of your life and your relationships secret from others.
Thad
I like my “senior invisibility.”
Mack
The times they’re a changing. But don’t ever take it for granted because we’re one Supreme Court ruling away from it being gone.
barkomatic
I don’t expect young gays to shower me with admiration or gratitude for having lived through more difficult times to be gay. The whole point of the movement after all was so young people *didn’t* have to worry so much.
Also, we only got the right to marry nationwide in 2015 so even younger people remember a time when their relationships were treated as second class.
kennedyglenn
Leslie Jordan- my hero. He was spot on and that’s exactly how it is. I’m just a tad bit younger than Jordan but i could sit and listen to him talk all night long!!!
Fname Optional Lname
We may be able to marry in this day and age but we have such a long way to go and so much hatred and animosity to overcome. We can’t walk in the malls of America hand in hand today. Yes there are more people getting comfortable with knowing gay couples but put two gay men kissing on television during prime time and see what kind of response there is. People are still being told that we are evil pedophiles out to take their children from them.
cubcmh
We have not evolved.
nm4047
Too late, you are preaching.
Hdtex
Leslie Jordan is a national treasure.
Fahd
Leslie Jordan is endlessly entertaining – talk about someone who puts his heart into his craft; he’s a very special person. However, at his age, I’ve observed that his chances in the bar are probably limited, regardless of whether the ‘opening line’ is preachy or not. Thank goodness there are newer ways of meeting people nowadays.
Openminded
Fhad, you are correct about his chances in a bar, and I can’t complain about that. Sadly, he is so right about his statement of how you get overlooked on the street if you are older. Not saying everyone should desire us old guys and def don’t want you to lie to us about how hot we are(n’t). It would be nice if more people showed a little kindness and commented on our shoes, watch, hat, jacket, or anything else that looked nice. Everybody loves a compliment and it doesn’t take much to give one. But again, only if it is due and sincere. On the flip side of that, us old guys should not take a simple compliment as an invitation for anything else.
Openminded
Gotta Love that guy. He can’t help but be “preachy”, that’s all he did in Will & Grace.
cuteguy
The saddest part is that condom usage is becoming extinct in the age of Prep. But STDs live on. Ddf is now just becoming a term that you can’t believe anymore on apps like Grindr and Scruff. I’m not on prep so I still use condoms. I’m keeping my healthy boundaries
butchqueen
He’s an experienced adult worthy of our attention and time.
Prax07
I think the “younger” generation, the teens to early twenties, were raised with the parental mindset that their kid is The Most Perfect little butterfly that never had to want for anything and never ever was in the wrong. You see it in the entitlement they have as a generation. When Starbucks being too busy is a reason for a meltdown you know they weren’t raised right.
Chipster
Ummmm…. as a 57 y/o gay father I want to make it clear:
I actively fought for gay-rights (in my day, I had to fight to retain my DOD Security Clearance) so that my kids could exist in a world where gay rights were assumed!
In other words, while it’s nice when a younger person acknowledges to me that we had it so much harder, and I will from time to time tell a youngster how glad I am for them that they don’t have to fight the way we did, the truth is: the fact that they can take it for granted is an indication of just how F*C*ING SUCCESSFUL we have been at obtaining those rights, and making them MAINSTREAM!
Go US! The goal wasn’t to get medals for out efforts… the goal was to get where we are, and even farther! Where gay-rights are assumed and acknowledged as “normal”!!!