“LGBT seniors are going back into the closet because that fear is real. You just know when they don’t want you there,” says one elderly participant in a new documentary Gen Silent about the largely unreported issue of homophobic home care workers intimidating the people they should be assisting.
The show takes a hard look at aging in the gay community, where seniors are less likely to have children or close contact with family and in turn more likely to age alone.
Below, an exclusive clip from the show followed by the trailer, which airs November 9th on LOGO at 9 p.m. ET/PT:
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James Szarkowicz
Glad to see this is finally being addressed. It is a very real concern for many of us.
barkomatic
We definitely need to do more to protect gay seniors from harassment by care workers. There should be a policy against unwanted religious talk that these agencies enforce. This will be hard, as the very last thing young gay people want to think about is getting old.
Xzamilio
I’m watching this. It’s just one of those things that we — especially as gay men — become more and more aware as we get older… the obsession with beauty and youth.
Tony Chaplinski
this is what I have been saying all along.
JerseyMike
I really want to see this..
redcarpet30
Our local SAGE affiliate has been doing showings of this for a few years now. It’s a important film. They did a couple of public viewings and they show it at their cultural competency training for assisted living/senior care orgs.
LadyL
Caught a few minutes of “Gen Silent” on Logo before I had to leave for work this morning. They are re-broadcasting it tonight and I will definitely watch. As my LGBT friends/family and I get older the question of how and where we can age safely is becoming more and more relevant.
Damon Robbins
The gay scene is youth oriented. My partner and I are 48 and we are long over the scene. We have many more straight friends and we happily lead a boring and ordinary life.
Dennis Patrick Ellis
LOUD & OUT *
Stache99
@James Szarkowicz: Yup. Always in the back of my mind. I’m at an age now where I see the light at the end of the tunnel and truth be told it scares me. We don’t have the safety of children and grandchildren to look out for us if we end up alone. Add in something to leave us disabled and were fucked.
Stache99
I’m soooo not ready for the title “ELDERLY GAY” though. Lol
Nick Marriott
It is not just gay youth that are ageist…..you make any kind of comment that(nasty)young people don’t like and the insult always begins with,”you OLD………”
Glücklich
I pray to be taken out silently, instantaneously, painlessly, in my sleep at about 75-ish. My husband’ll probably be dead by then and it’ll hopefully be just before my health nosedives.
onthemark
The movie was disturbing but also inspiring at times.
Stache99
@Nick Marriott: It comes down to culture. In the heterosexual world the worst insult and/or fear is being compared to anything gay and especially the effeminate kind ie “Faggot”. In the gay community being old is the worst thing you can be. Being effeminate would be second on the list ie “Old Queen”.
BlueDude
One sad fact about aging is that so many heteros “our age” are still homophobic from all the crap they learned in their youth, stuff that we had to rise above. An increasing number of younger folk are much more accepting of us, and don’t care about sexual orientation.
Rimmington
When I was in my “prime” 50 years ago, I heard some gay man say there were only 2 real sins a gay man can commit. One: getting fat, 2: getting old.
sangsue
90% of nursing home care aides and nursing comes from Africa. If it’s Nigeria, chances are they’re evangelical Christian. They may ignore or harass GLBT members. Being out in a nursing home is just saying “Shoot me.”