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Each week a new story will be published below, sharing the heartfelt stories and experiences of Pride Place's residents, and what the GenPride Centers' future means for them.
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Leaving Seattle’s high prices and moving to Cleveland seemed like the right thing for Victor and for a while, it was. He was able to live in a larger house and his money went much further. But the political climate didn’t suit him and Victor soon realized there was more he needed than affordability. “I’m aging, so I needed to start looking at my future needs for collaborative living. I have deep connections in Seattle, so I moved back here. But I do need my own space. That’s huge for me.”
In what Victor describes as a miraculous occurrence, he received a notice via one of his social media feeds about GenPride and Pride Place. “I was really excited for a chance to have my own apartment in the heart of the Seattle neighborhood where I’ve long felt a connection. Well, it lit me up.”
Moving to Pride Place and being in the same building as the GenPride Center is truly meaningful to Victor. “As a pansexual transgender man, it’s so important to know that I’m in a community who really understands the vulnerability of being an aging LGBTQ person and we don’t have to explain ourselves with every interaction.”
And living in a studio apartment after being in a much larger housing situation? Well, that is also working out beautifully. “The fact that there’s an LGBTQ senior center on the first floor means that there are common areas for me to have a change of scenery and interact with my neighbors so, in effect, it makes that studio like a big private room in a shared house with a lot of other LGBTQ people.” Victor’s expression lights up when he talks about that sense of community. “As seniors, we each carry a whole lifetime of experiences and traditions. We can really get to know each other and enrich each other’s lives. I’m so grateful that we are in this building right here in the hub of Capitol Hill. We’re the LGBTQ elders and we can age in place right here in this neighborhood. We won’t be erased.”
Christine is the resident who has moved the farthest to live at Pride Place. She left the tropical paradise of Costa Rica because it was important to her to be a part of the LGBTQIA history here. Prior to living in Costa Rica, Christine had a rich past of social work and activism right here on Capitol Hill in Seattle. “I arrived in 1974 at 18 with the Army. The first group I worked with were the organizers of the very first Gay Pride March in Seattle. There were only about 100 people in that first march, many of whom had bags over their faces to hide. People threw bottles and sticks at us. That was only 50 years ago”.
At 23, she owned one of the first lesbian-owned coffee houses on Capitol Hill. She was also a creative director for Front Room Theater, a lesbian theater company, and her own play was performed there. It was a finalist for a Jane Chambers Lesbian Playwright Award. Her deep roots here also included community action with the AIDS crisis, working with Act Up and Chicken Soup Brigade.
Christine’s path really has come full circle. In the past, she was the first program manager at GenPride. “Being involved in GenPride in the early days and seeing the dream come to fruition now is the most incredible thing. GenPride Center will provide resources, uniquely based on our lifestyles and values and where we’ll feel understood. It can be our hub. When we’re younger, as queer people we have lots of hubs and meeting places but as we age, social connections seem to shrink. The GenPride Center is an important hub for us”.
“As a social worker, I’ve always wanted to see the impact of a community like this. In retirement communities, usually there are very few LGBTQIA people. We may keep to ourselves, not talking about our lives because we don’t want to make people uncomfortable and we don’t want to feel alienated. But we are really longing for a place, especially in our advanced years, where we can live our lives out loud to age in peace and age in pride”.
A long, winding path brought Lane to Pride Place. It started in 1990. “Returning from a coastal backpacking trip, a group of us spent a day at the Seattle Waterfront. Being from Minnesota, it was the first time I’d ever seen a gay couple holding hands while peacefully strolling, so at ease with everyone and everything around them. It blew my mind. That moment forever imprinted Seattle as my home.”
Job or no job, Lane decided to move to Seattle the following summer. The one and only resume he sent out was to Microsoft. They quickly flew him out for interviews and hired him. Eventually, though, Lane moved back to Minnesota. He fought the Minnesota Anti-Marriage Amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages. “This included coming out to EVERYONE in my family and many friends. Sadly, I had to let some relatives and friends go.”
An expanding career brought Lane to New York, then the DC area and eventually Spokane upon retirement. While in Spokane, Lane as a deaf person was so exhausted by the lifetime of audism he experienced. “I could no longer handle the constant communication failures one after the other that all too often had consequences or hurt relationships. I did not want to see or talk to people. The spiritual healing took about five years.”
“When I read about Pride Place, I knew I needed to be here. The GenPride Center will build community. They’re even in the process of working on communication access not for myself but for others as well. I hope to live the rest of my life surrounded by a loving, caring ‘logical’ family (a pun by Armistead Maupin on the word “biological”). I’ll be pursuing as full a life as I can in a vibrant, interesting gayborhood! In my new apartment I have a shower curtain with a beautiful drawing of two nude men holding hands, entitled ‘Hand in Hand’ by Maciel Cantelmo. It will always remind me of that day at the Seattle Waterfront and the beginning of my journey to be here now, at my true home.”
Living in Everett WA, Sebastian had no intention of moving, nor was he aware that Pride Place existed until one fateful sunny day sitting in a park reading an issue of Seattle Gay News. “I saw a photo of a beautiful, colorful new LGBTQIA+ apartment building on Capitol Hill. I thought it was too late to apply, but my mother always told me ‘closed mouths don’t get fed’, so I called, and now I’m here!” Having lived in the Belltown neighborhood in the 90’s, Sebastian was familiar with Capitol Hill and loved visiting Broadway Market and other spots in the neighborhood. “On the hill, everything is happening, day and night, and I love meeting new people. I’ve already met most, if not all, of the residents at Pride Place”.
Being one of the first residents at Pride Place means a lot to Sebastian. “I love the newness of the building. My apartment on the 7th floor is a Southeast corner with lots of light and on a clear day I can see Mt. Rainier. I can even faintly hear the thumping sound of the dance music from Neighbors Bar on a Saturday night and I love it… as queer people that dance music is our anthem.
Sebastian served in the Navy for 20 years, and experienced having to be closeted with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so being out and true to himself is particularly important. “As an ageing black gay man I have, and we as a community have, a safe place we can call home. I know the backstory of this building and the GenPride Center. It took a long time and we can be a model to other projects like this in Washington and other places in the country.”
The sense of community of living upstairs from the GenPride Center is a highlight for Sebastian. “I believe in building community and volunteering. Coming together and making our voices heard, we’re unstoppable. The possibilities for advocacy and community at the GenPride Center are endless”. And Sebastian’s outgoing nature and joy about living at Pride Place are endless. “I find myself looking at the building from afar as I walk around Capitol Hill. I love seeing the bright white and blue building with the rainbow colors and knowing that’s home!”
On January 1st 2021, Laney hit the road in her minivan, leaving a job that was not conducive to staying safe and healthy during Covid. “Those were scary and sad times. Before Covid, I had survived a cluster of heart attacks and I was very vulnerable to the virus. Leaving my sweet Capitol Hill apartment and my queer community was tough. I think we all experienced the grief of losing community during early Covid times”.
Traveling and living in the van was challenging. As a non-binary lesbian, Laney had to be in the closet in some environments, but there was also joy and adventure. After a couple of years, though, Laney missed her daughter and longed for queer community. “I returned to Seattle, but there was no way I could afford an apartment on Capitol Hill any longer. I was fortunate to find affordable senior housing in South King County and although I do recognize my privilege, I felt I had to go back into the closet. I just didn’t know who I was going to get into the elevator with. Are they homophobic? Am I safe? I was, once again, experiencing the ache of not being able to be fully myself”.
“This Spring I found my way to GenPride and learned about Pride Place, or, as I like to call it, Xanadu for Older Queers and Allies!” Laney was volunteering at an application workshop and decided to apply for an apartment. “And now I’m a resident at Pride Place and I’m so excited to be living right upstairs from the GenPride Center. As a writer I was excited to take a memoir writing class offered at GenPride and led by Ingrid Ricks, a talented writer and teacher, and now I’ve started a monthly writer’s support group at GenPride”.
Laney looks forward to even more involvement and volunteering at the GenPride Center. “I can feel my heart opening up again. Pride Place is going to be my happy nest for a long time. Being open about who I am and volunteering to give back to the community where I belong means everything to me”.
The moment you meet Rafael and Bob, the love and respect between them is evident. They’ve been together for 25 years and most recently have lived for 3 years in a senior apartment complex in South Florida. “We’ve been living through the results of the Governor’s anti-gay propaganda. Our living situation there changed drastically as some residents felt empowered to be openly homophobic and hateful. People really showed their true colors”.
Having lived, for a time, in the very open and accepting country of Sweden, Rafael felt the sting of facing the ugliness in their own home community in Florida. “I was in the middle of a conversation with a neighbor when another neighbor entered and told her they were not supposed to talk to us”. Bob also commented that these instances were becoming a regularity. “We’d walk into the common area and everyone was there and you could feel the atmosphere change. They’d stare at us and I’d think, do they think we’re celebrities or monsters?”
As the political climate grew worse, both Bob and Rafael knew they couldn’t stay. They applied at a senior apartment complex further north in St. Petersburg, Florida, believing that city to be more welcoming. “During the in-person process everything was fine until the leasing agent realized we’re a gay couple. Although we’d been pre-approved, we couldn’t get the apartment and we knew exactly why. That’s when we knew we had to leave the state”.
Moving all the way to Seattle has been a success! Pride Place and the GenPride Center are not only an affirming environment but a place that truly celebrates the LGBTQIA senior community. “We love Seattle! Living at Pride Place in Capitol Hill is so comfortable and we are in a public transportation hub. That’s really important to us. GenPride Center’s services make us feel more secure about ageing in a safe place and being around people who understand our lives and our history. We hope to participate at GenPride Center a lot”. Rafael’s final comment really says it all, “Being here, I feel like I can open my wings and I’m free”.
