Stay in the Loop
LGBT News for August 2018
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Links and videos of interest to the mature LGBT adult are just a click away.
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New MA Law Mandates Provider Training
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Massachusetts will require elder care providers to undergo training about lesbian and gay rights and issues, under a first-in-the-nation law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker (R). The law is necessary to help protect gay elders from widespread discrimination by their care givers and in nursing homes, advocates said in cheering for the new law, which was included in the state’s $41.7 billion fiscal year 2019
budge
t
(H. 4800), signed by Baker July 26.
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‘It’s hard enough to be old’
Certification program builds the LGBT elder-friendly business community
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For Tricia Russell, a 61-year-old transgender woman from St. Augustine [Florida], even a simple shopping excursion was harrowing. As she transitioned from a man named Patrick to a woman named Tricia, clothing store employees either eyed her suspiciously or closely followed her as she walked around. At a grocery store’s customer service counter, an employee reacted to her masculine voice in a feminine body by relocating to a back room. She was harassed by some members of law enforcement. Vicki Wengrow, 76, calls herself a radical feminist lesbian. (Beth Reese Cravey, jacksonville.com, 5/28/18)
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Trans Chaplain Helps LGBTQ Elders Feel Welcome
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Chris Alburger may very well be the first chaplain in America hired specifically for LGBTQ senior care. He is definitely the first-ever LGBTQ Chaplain Resident at Hebrew SeniorLife. The senior care facility's Clinical Pastoral Education program, according to its director, is the nation’s first to focus on the spiritual care of LGBTQ seniors. (Justin Kaplan, CommonHealth, WBUR, 8/13/18)
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Invisible in Data: Lack of LGBTQ Data Collection
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Although policymaking ultimately rests upon empirical inquiry, an overwhelming amount of population surveys omit questions relating to sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE). The result: A dearth of understanding about the experiences of the LGBTQ community and how gender identity and sexuality influence other demographics such as race, ability, or geopolitics. (Charlie Whittington, Georgetown Public Policy Review, 7/17/18)
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Rainbow Supper & Lunch Clubs
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The Rainbow Lunch Club meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at noon
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This month lunch is served on
August 8th and 22nd.
The Rainbow Supper Club meets this month on
Tuesday August 7th
supper is served at 6:00pm.
Both the Rainbow Lunch and Supper Clubs are held at the
Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, 90 Holden Street, Worcester, MA.
Entertainment returns!
Dale Le Page
Tuesday August 7th!
See flyer posted below
The suggested meal donation for people 60+ is $2.50. Guests under 60 pay $5.50.
Reservations: If you wish to attend the Rainbow Lunch or Supper Club or cancel your reservation, please call or email WLEN one week before at (508) 756-1545 ext. 404 —
wlen@eswa.org. If no one is available please leave a message including your name and phone number and date you plan to attend. You may also make your reservation through our on-line Meet Up group
here.
Entertainment/program supported in part by a grant from the Worcester Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency
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Join us for a special Rainbow
Lunch Club on October 10th
(date change)
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Join at us for a very special Rainbow Lunch Club on Wednesday October 10th! On this day we welcome special guest,
Secretary of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Alice Bonner, PhD.
To make reservations please call or email WLEN by October 5th.
508-756-1545 ext. 404
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Five Big Retirement Threats
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From marriage equality to Ellen to Queer Eye to Jim Parsons to record incomes, times have seemingly never been better for the LGBT community. Like all Americans, lesbians and gays are not immune to the looming retirement crisis. We also face a slew of additional challenges when compared to our straight counterparts. (Forbes, David Rae, 6/12/18)
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Never Alone
While HIV can now be a long-term, manageable chronic disease for many, this can present a unique set of challenges for those living and aging with the virus. Many people living with HIV describe feelings of loneliness and isolation, which is why it is so important to know how to find a community of support. The HIV: The Long View Coalition is sharing stories from long-term HIV survivors about facing their challenges and finding community networks of support. Through these stories, we hope to remind those living with HIV that they are never alone. (HIV: The Long View, undated)
Aging HIV Population Confronts High Drug Costs, Taxes Medicare
The first generation of AIDS crisis survivors is about to turn 65 and join the Medicare population, putting pressure on federal programs and spotlighting high prescription drug prices. Over the next two decades, more than 600,000 people living with diagnosed HIV/AIDS will become eligible for Medicare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These individuals will not only be facing a disease that many expected to kill them years ago, but conditions that come with aging, and a complicated insurance system with high prices for the drugs they need to stay alive. (Shira Stein, Bloomberg Law, 6/28/18)
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LGBT Elders Read Letters to Younger Selves
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Talking about the video, YouTube celebrity Davey Wavey says, ‘While today’s world is far from perfect, there’s no doubt the LGBT community has enjoyed considerable progress over the last half century. That progress, in many ways, was only made possible through the sacrifices, sweat, blood and tears of our community’s elders. And yet, our LGBT elders are underrepresented and often invisible and the very community they helped to create. The reality is, our elders deserve to be seen, respected, celebrated and heard. And when we listen, they have a great deal of wisdom and advice to offer us.’ He says he hopes the film will help transfer some of that, ‘wisdom from one generation to the next.’ (text via GayStarNews; video by LGBT Community Center of the Desert, 6/21/18)
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Save the date: Worcester Pride, Saturday September 8th
http://worcesterpride.org/
Rainbow Readers
A monthly book club dedicated to reading all things Queer and LGBTQA
at Annie's Book Stop
65 James Street, Worcester MA
508-796-5613
LGBTQI Meetup for Central Mass
The purpose of this Meetup group is to help create a vibrant LGBTQI+ community throughout Central Massachusetts. Check this page out for LBGTQI+ friendly events in our area!
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WLEN– Worcester LGBT Elder Network, is a joint effort of Elder Services of Worcester Area Inc.,
Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging and the Worcester Senior Center.
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