Last week saw the Opening on NOT ANOTHER SECOND an excellent new Exhibit that both recognizes and celebrates the lives of LGBTQ seniors.
The portraits on display in this emotionally charged exhibition are of 12 seniors who were a part of the generation that lead the Stonewall uprising, founded political group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and helped end the US military policy commonly referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
They tell their stories of integrity, resilience and humanity of a time when being any shade of queer could be hell. In an accompanying video they talk of all the years they lost leading closeted lives, and how much joy they had once they accepted who they really are.
Age: 82 & 78
City: Palm Desert, California
Years “Lost”: 115 years collectively
Ray and Richard met at work and fell in love late in life. Close to 60 before they came out, they were among the first gay couples to be legally married in California in 2008.
Age: 69
City: Manhattan, New York
Years “Lost”: 50 years
Pearl previously identified as a gay man, and when younger, fully enjoyed New York’s disco era and led something of a jet-set life. Previously working as a weekend drag queen on Fire Island and the South Shore of Long Island, she became Pearl fully at the age of 50, embracing her trans identity.
Age: 87
City: Palm Desert, California
Years “Lost”: 37 years
Born in New Jersey, Nick worked in education and the theater. He began to realize his sexuality at college but didn’t come out for another three decades. He then met his partner, Michael. The men had 23 years together before Michael passed from AIDS.
We have so much to learn and to share with them, and adopt their manta that they do not lose another second of life.
The Exhibit has been put together as a collaborative project between the LGBTQ elders nonprofit SAGE and Watermark Retirement Communities. It launched on January 19 at the art gallery at the new, senior community ‘The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights’ (21 Clark Street, Brooklyn), and will then tour Élan Collection art galleries in Los Angeles; Napa, California; and Tucson, Arizona other similar communities around the U.S.
The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights’
(21 Clark Street, Brooklyn),
