A Sage Staffers Comments and my response

[Jerry]

I am copying a response by Sage Staffer Rebecca that appeared in Micheal Musto's column and my responsse to it..
Here's a direct link to the column..
blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2012/06/sage_1.php#commen

Here is Rebecca's comments followed by my response

I actually work for SAGE at this amazing new senior center, and it is so upsetting that our seniors are feeling this pain and anguish. It also isn't purely a financial issue; the LGBT center has decided to renovate their first floor, so that space would be eliminated regardless of our situation. It's awful, and sad...but as our ED has said, we're doing huge things for the community, it will just take some time for everyone to adjust. Naturally, our participants don't know exactly what is discussed at staff meetings, etc. so this man's understandably emotional letter isn't entirely accurate. Nonetheless, we hope that people will start to make the trek uptown to 27th street, where we have an amazing program going on.

My response
Rebecca with all due respect I really resent your extremely patronozing attituid to all this..You really can't understand how we feel or the importance for gay seniors having a space at the general LGBT Center...You work for Sage but you are not gay and have not spent many years interacting with friends at that drop in room..And to correct some of your points...we know there is a major renovation at the center...we are NOT asking to keep the current drop room on the first flooor...we merely want A ROOM...anywhere in the building..if you were more familiar with the building you would know there are countless rooms that get no use and are empty each day during the drop in room hours..I also dissagree that it is purely a financial issue...because that iis exactly what it is...the bottom line..MONEY! ...Again I have no problem with the great things going on at thee new Senior Center...but a Senior Center is NOT an LGBT Community Center...and to be removed from our presence and connection to that center is outrageous/insulting and totally UNACCEPTABLE!
Jerry Hoose

BTW Rebecca is a woman in her 20's which makes it even harder for us to accept her feelings about this situation

[Brian Olson]

That was a patronizing response.

It looks to me like SAGE members are being treated as though they are not of sound mind, as though their desires do not matter and/or as though they have no connection to the rest of the LGBT community at The LGBT Center.

Has it not been a concern in the LGBT community to integrate age groups? Older LGBT members of the community do contribute much in terms of knowledge of LGBT history and personal life experiences of very different times.

The limitations that LGBT seniors face are most often physical limitations that limit mobility, not limitations of the mind (as was suggested by whoever wrote this). We are not talking about young people who can make a trek back and forth from The LGBT Center to SAGE and back to the LGBT Center. If this separation happens, due to the very nature of an aging population, our LGBT seniors will be, for the most part, effectively cut off from from the rest of the LGBT community.

How can our seniors be expected to travel between 13th and 27th streets in addition to travel from their homes?

Which one is it? Can they be expected to make the additional trip or are they cut off from the rest of the LGBT community?

If you ask me, not only are our LGBT seniors losing out, the entire community loses out on the presence of our LGBT seniors.

I have made many dear and true friends that are part of the aging population, and I know that we are all losing out if our LGBT seniors lose their social space in the center.

Brian Olson

[Pete]

Yes, the Center is renovating the lobby, and that includes room 107. However I understand that the Center offered SAGE the use of a different room elsewhere in the building in place of 107 and that the offer was turned down by SAGE.

Many of us that use the drop-in room for socializing and meetings think of SAGE as being a space and presence at the LGBT Center, where it started, and do not think of SAGE as being the 7th Avenue location. There is a big difference between an office building 15 blocks away, and the LGBT Center in the Village.

As long as SAGE keeps thinking of this as a just a physical move uptown, and not as throwing decades of life and relationships and a SAGE space under the bus, they will never understand why this has drawn out so much protest.

And to charge this protest off as nothing more than a bunch of senior citizens not liking change is so incredibly patronizing and very untrue.

Many of us feel horribly and personally betrayed by SAGE, especially after being repeatedly promised that there will always be a SAGE presence at the Center. How are we supposed to believe or trust SAGE now.

[Carol NYC]

Bottom line - seniors are being erased from the LGBT Centre!!!

[Jerry]

I think this quote from Rebecca's insulting comment pissed me off the most.
"Naturally, our participants don't know exactly what is discussed at staff meetings, etc. so this man's understandably emotional letter isn't entirely accurate".
MAYBE THAT'S THE FIRST PROBLEM..
We lowly "participants" were not included or asked what is important to us..
When young heterosexual woman make decisions and know exactly what is being planned for us lowly"participant"without any input from us there is something VERY wrong..and believe me..us lowly "participants" are furious!

[Jerry]

I just added this new reply to Rebecca's infuriating comments in the Micheal Musto column..

BTW Rebecca...do those huge amazing new things going on at the senior center include the slashing of counciling services and laying off of a large portion of the social worker staff...like long term social workers David Donolfo and John Genghe who so many of us have counted on for support on countles senior issues for MANY YEARS!.....but I am very enthused about some of the new amazing services like Zumba classes-Language Lesson-Yogi Lessons-Arts and crafts-creative writing-etc.