Nation's First Full-Time LGBT Center To Open In NYC!

 

Written by  Instinct Staff

Thank Gaga! Finally we'll have a fierce place in the Big Apple to spend our Golden Years when the time comes. Read about the Sage LGBT Senior Center after the jump.

Scheduled to open in January, the Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) was awarded an "Innovative Senior Center" (ISC) contract by the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) for the new project! Based in Manhattan the Center will offer a "comprehensive array of services and support" to LGBT elders in all five boroughs.

"The needs of seniors have evolved since centers were created 50 years ago and now is the time to re-envision the one-size-fits-all approach that has traditionally shaped many of our centers," Bloomberg said in a statement.

According to SAGE Senior Director of Programming Catherine Thurston, the new facility will offer programs that are unique to the needs of LGBT seniors. Thurston tells HuffPo:

"For elderly people who are also LGBT, going to traditional senior centers can pose a variety of unique challenges. Many LGBT elderly say they feel they’ve encountered discrimination, anything from simply feeling excluded to something more overt. If you cannot authentically be who you are at this stage of your life, it’s really tragic."

Girl, we hear ya! No one should have to feel like they need to go back into the closet after years of fighting discrimination. It's also incredibly reassuring and sets an example to the rest of the world that we, as a community, are making efforts to take care of allgenerations!