As a teacher for 32 years, Joy Griffith sometimes felt she needed to hide her sexual orientation.
“I identify myself as a lesbian but I don’t go around saying that out loud,” said Griffith. “It depended on my situation and where I was.”
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As a teacher for 32 years, Joy Griffith sometimes felt she needed to hide her sexual orientation.
“I identify myself as a lesbian but I don’t go around saying that out loud,” said Griffith. “It depended on my situation and where I was.”
Comments
People have their prejudices and don't always verbalize them. However, Why would a gay senior citizen be so concerned
about what others may think?. It would seem that after a certain age one would realize that other people are aware of who they are.
Frankly most people don't give a damn. Being gay does not make one special, but if a gay person feels that way then they should only go where they feel comfortable going otherwise shut up about it, unless you don't trust yourself among straight people.
What others think isn't the point. How others act is the point. There are still people who are prejudiced. Imagine you are 85, need full-time care, and have a care-giver who thinks that being anywhere on the LGBT spectrum is wrong. This is the person bathing, dressing, and tending to you. Would you feel safe coming out? If the memories of your long-term partner and your life together are what keep you going, and your caregivers in the nursing home are not open to hearing you talk about your life with your partner, then your life is severely diminished at a time when you need all the help you can get. There are still doctors who don't know how to treat patients who are transgender. These are real-life issues. Being treated like you are fully human is not special--it is a right and a necessity.
Comments like sraad's are exactly why lgbt safe space is needed. There's a lot of ignorant out there and it's loud, angry, and wants minorities to "shut up."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Be gay. Nobody cares. It's 2012.