Last home: The largest LGBT senior citizen residence in the United States has opened

Houston – Life is bad for transgender woman Tina Jacobs. As a drag queen in Hawaii in the 1960s, she was inadvertently attacked and saw some friends die on the street. But now she sees the light at the end of the subway: “Behold, everything will come together at some point.”

Jacobs pays less than $ 500 a month for his normal two-room apartment at a senior citizen home in Houston, Texas.

Located on the outskirts of Houston’s Upper and Upcoming Third Ward county, the facility aims to keep the elderly and vulnerable population in their own neighborhood, while providing shelter for sexual minorities in general.

The former mayor had an idea for housing

“Many of them don’t have children to support for the cross generation,” said 65-year-old Annie Parker, the former mayor of Houston, at the opening of the new retirement home. “There are also financial problems, because those who come out in public may have had economic hardships, for example lost their jobs.”

As one of the first apparently gay mayors of a major American city, Parker had the idea to build a similar residence in Houston eight years ago after visiting a similar facility in Los Angeles. Designed by a local architect with a central tower painted in rainbow colors, it is the largest LGBT senior residence in the United States.

Funding from donations

Named after two Houston gay rights activists, Charles Law and Jean Harrington, who died of AIDS in 1993 and 2002. The Montrose Center, which has been supporting the LGBTQ community since 1978, has raised the required .5 26.5 million donations.

“When I first came out as a homosexual, it was very difficult for my family to accept it,” says Kennedy Loftin, project developer at the Montrose Center. “I have no place to sleep. This brief uncertainty about the shelter made me realize how important it is for us to take care of our elders. “

New homeowners should have access to a clinic run by Legacy Community Health Services, a homosexual organization, its director Katie Caldwell insists. “LGBT seniors are especially at risk of not going to the doctor because they have been poorly treated and discriminated against in the past,” he explains. That is why this hospital which is open to all the residents of the district is very important.

“Many died alone on the street”

For Jacobs, who has been on stage as Queen of Drag for 57 years and now lives for mediocre social benefits, it is a long way to go for this new life. “We were always attacked for being us in Hawaii in the 1960s,” he says.

“Many died alone on the street. They fought for everyone’s rights, and no one for them. Now we benefit from their struggle and they are no longer with us to enjoy it. “

Towards the evening Jacobs slips into a glamorous, lined dress with a deep neckline and sings for Houston’s gays. For this, Diana Rose chose a popular song in 1978, “The Wise”. Its appropriate title: “Home”.

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