SAGE, which touts itself as the oldest and largest organization serving the elder gay community in the country, started in New York in 1978.
NORTHAMPTON – Between them, Arthur Hacker and Herb Paston have lived 166 years of life, 55 of them together. They were around in the days when being gay in public meant putting your career and your safety at risk, so seeing the turnout at the Senior Center Wednesday for a program catering to older gays was quite gratifying.
“Life was never easy when we were young, so we appreciate the advances made over the years,” said Hacker.
The occasion was the kick-off event by SAGE Western Massachusetts, an advocacy organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender elders. SAGE representatives came with a directory of services, a big chocolate cake and the promise of activities and other events for its underserved constituency. They were warmly welcomed by a crowd that included seniors both in and outside the gay community.
Before toasting the new enterprise, director J.M. Sorrell said a few words about the need for an organization like SAGE.
“The elder generation came of age at a time when they could be institutionalized for being who they are,” she said, adding that many have a mistrust of care-givers.
“They have to deal with nursing home gossip,” Sorrell said. “Often their partners are not included in their care discussions.”
Sitting nearby with his walker, Paul Vasconcellos, 62, confirmed Sorrell’s observations. An Amherst resident who has been in and out of various facilities because of health problems, Vasconcellos said the older people there can be hostile to gays.
“You run into people in their 70s, 80s and 90s who don’t hold the same views,” he said. “You almost want to go back into the closet because you don’t want to talk about who you are.”
Hacker and Paston, both 83, faced that hostility in their everyday lives for decades.
“You had to hide your gayness,” Hacker said.
The atmosphere in Northampton, at the Senior Center in particular, is refreshingly different, they said. Both men use the exercise room at the center several times a week. They hope to take advantage of new activities and social opportunities that will come courtesy of SAGE.
“The same reason anybody else joins a group,” said Paston.
Barbara Roe Spierer, 77, carried a sign with Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays when her daughter Fern came out years ago in New York City. When she moved to Northampton, Spierer was disappointed by how few P-FLAG members she found here. She welcomes SAGE at the Senior Center in the hope that senior gays and lesbians won’t feel so isolated.
“I don’t want it to be quiet,” she said. “I want people to accept them and know they’re human. I don’t ant them to live in a corner or be afraid of getting out.”
SAGE, which touts itself as the oldest and largest organization serving the elder gay community in the country, started in new York in 1978. Sorrell said the local chapter formed in March of this year when volunteers like herself saw the need for it. In addition to the inordinate number of gay people who have made the Pioneer Valley their home, Sorrell said, older people are moving here because the media has featured the area as a good place to retire.