Editorial: We must be inclusive to LGBT seniors
By Paul Downey, President & CEO, Serving Seniors
As we celebrate the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community this month in San Diego, I thought it was appropriate to bring attention to a demographic that is often left behind: the LGBT senior.
Like heterosexual seniors, LGBT seniors face many of the same challenges as they age, such as medical, financial and aging issues. However, LGBT seniors are often harassed and excluded when they access services from aging programs and senior centers. This makes many LGBT seniors reluctant to seek help from traditional aging programs. In turn, LGBT seniors are more likely to suffer from social isolation which negatively impacts their physical and mental health.
It is vital our community embraces LGBT seniors and provides them with safe and inclusive environments they can find solace in. At Serving Seniors, our programs and services make a dedicated effort to show the LGBT community love and support.
One of our clients, Lisa, is a cancer survivor and transgender woman. She is very open about the fact she spent the first 68 years of her life as a male. Lisa says she knew by the age of three or four that she wasn’t really a boy despite what she was told. “I knew something was wrong with my body.”
Transgender people often experience a genuine disconnect between the sex assigned to them at birth and their internal sense of who they are. It can cause undue pain and distress, which Lisa is all too familiar with.
Lisa is a veteran of the United States Air Force and served for four years. After her service, she attended college where she earned her degree in journalism and went on to work for several newspapers. She did what she thought was expected of her by marrying a woman and having a child. She says her parents would never understand or accept her living as a woman; so instead, Lisa waited to make that change. Once both of her parents passed away she immediately went to see a therapist and began the process of transitioning.
In 2004, she officially became Lisa and has a new birth certificate to prove it. “I feel more normal. I’ve become more talkative. In my other gender, I was afraid to talk.”
Today Lisa is healthy, vibrant, confident and full of joy. She enjoys sharing her story in an effort to educate others and spread awareness about what it means to be transgender. Lisa truly embodies LGBT pride, and is an inspiration and a reminder it is never too late to live the life that makes us genuinely happy.
Lisa admits it was challenging finding a senior center accepting of a transgender person, which is why Lisa is grateful for Serving Seniors. She says the staff and her peers accept her exactly as she is and Serving Seniors is a community she is glad to be a part of.
This San Diego Pride, remember there are seniors like Lisa who are still looking for a place to fit in. Acceptance can really make a difference in anyone’s life and it is time the San Diego community steps up to embrace and love these individuals for who they are.
If you or someone you know is an LGBT senior looking for an accepting, inclusive environment, please visit servingseniors.org to find out more about our programs and the Gary & Mary West Wellness Senior Center.
—Paul Downey is the president and CEO of Serving Seniors, a nonprofit agency dedicated to increasing the quality of life for San Diego seniors living in poverty. Learn more at www.servingseniors.org.
Editorial: Park Boulevard redesign puts bicyclists in danger
By D. Osborne
As a bicyclist, I’d like to raise serious concerns with the redesign of Park Boulevard south of El Cajon Boulevard in North Park. In the southbound direction just south of the intersection, the new construction has taken what was a lovely, safe and wide two-lane street, perfect for both bikes and cars, and turned it into a dangerous route for bicyclists. All traffic is now funneled into one very narrow lane, without a bike lane and without room for both a bike and an auto to pass through at the same time. A large amount of street space has been taken by medians and curbed barriers. This change has transformed what had been a great ride from University Heights to Balboa Park/Downtown and turned it into a hazardous, nerve-racking experience for the biker.
In general, I applaud what’s been done around town to promote biking. I’d like to thank our local officials, [Council President] Todd Gloria and Mayor [Kevin] Faulconer, both of whom have brought attention to the importance of providing a good biking infrastructure in our neighborhoods. I appreciate their support and recognition that one of the most environmentally friendly ways of getting around and a great way to ease traffic congestion is for more of us to use a bike when possible.
This redesign of Park Boulevard needs to be fixed and the City’s street design process needs to be held accountable by bike advocates.
A few important questions for the street design and planning process: Why was this change made with seemingly no planning for the bicyclist’s needs and safety? Where is the safe bike route in this redesign? Were bike advocates involved in the design process?
This change on Park Boulevard puts bicyclists in unnecessary danger and does not promote a safe biking environment. If an auto vs. bike collision were to happen in this section — and this redesign makes that seem very likely — I think the injured parties would have a valid argument in holding the City partly liable for damages. This design puts bicyclists in danger. Here’s an opportunity for our local officials to stand up for the needs of the biking community and fix this problem.
Could the right shoulder median be partly removed and turned into a bike lane headed south? There seems to be a lot of room in this area, and a fix could easily be made to allow both auto and bike to use the street simultaneously.
San Diego, especially our North Park-University Heights-Hillcrest neighborhood, is a fantastic place to bike. I’m glad to see a focus on safe biking from our city leaders. I’d like this dangerous redesign on Park Boulevard to be fixed, and for the City’s street design planning process to always include a bicycling advocate.
