HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yoakam, J. R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Yoakam, J. R.

Social Work Department College of St. Benedict St. John's University 37 South College Avenue St. Joseph, MN 56374 jyoakam{at}csbsju.edu

Gay and Gray in New York City. Video/1999/22 min. A film by Nicholas Chesla, Cindi Creager, and Julie Englander. Distributed by Fanlight Productions, 4196 Washington Street, Suite 2, Boston, MA 02131. 800-937-4113. Online: www.fanlight.com. E-mail: info{at}fanlight.com. Rental $60 (one day) or $120 (one week), Purchase $199. Also distributed by Terra Nova Films, 9848 South Winchester Avenue, Chicago, IL 60540. 773-881-8491. Online: www.terranova.org. E-mail: tnf{at}terranova.org. Rental $60 (one day), Purchase $199.

Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100. Video/1999/58 min. Written, directed, and produced by Yvonne Welbon. Associate Producers: Catherine Crouch and Sarah B. Uhle. Distributed by Our Film Works, P.O. Box 497062, Chicago, IL 60649. 800-343-5540. Online: www.sistersinthelife.com. E-mail: ywelbon{at}sistersincinema.com. Rental $150 (film screening rental fee), Purchase $30 (home video use), $150 (institutional sales).

Old gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are hard to find. Sexual orientation is an invisible characteristic. Today's old lesbian and gay people came out during times of repression and discrimination and are not likely to be as open about their sexual orientation and gender identity as those who are younger. Thanks to two videos, Gay and Gray in New York City, and Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100, viewers are offered a glimpse into the lives of people who are old and gay and living vital lives.

The first documentary to include old gay and lesbian people, Word Is Out, premiered in 1978. It featured interviews with 23 ethnically and geographically diverse gay and lesbian people, including an old lesbian poet and a gay rancher in his eighties who lived in the desert southwest. Silent Pioneers: Gay and Lesbian Elders (1984) was the first documentary film devoted entirely to the gay and lesbian senior population. It included interviews with a lesbian, who was a former waitress from Chicago, who sang about the joys of being a "dirty old woman" to an enthusiastic crowd of younger woman. This film also showcased the work of SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders), organized in 1978 in New York City, which is now providing services to more than 5,000 members. In Silent Pioneers, a gay male couple, (The Oldest Gay Couple in America, 1997) Gene Harwood and Bruhs Miro, who met in 1929, are featured dancing at one of the SAGE socials. Other documentaries focusing on gay and lesbian elders include Before Stonewall (1986); SAGE: A Family Portrait, (1991); Golden Threads (1998), about a matchmaking group for lesbians that holds a reunion every year in Provincetown, Massachusetts; and recent biographical films of Harry Hay, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, who founded the first gay and lesbian organizations in the 1950s—the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis, respectively.

Gay and Gray in New York City provides snapshots of gay men and one lesbian couple, ages 59 to 79. These vignettes are interspersed with facts about gay and lesbian aging. For example, older gay men and lesbians are 10 times more likely to live alone than their heterosexual counterparts. Later in the video a graphic appears on screen: "Gays are ten times more likely not to have someone to turn to for support compared to the general population." Jerry, a musician living with HIV, battled addiction to drugs and alcohol after his partner died. Now he hopes to inspire younger gays and lesbians. Rex remembers his partner through the love letters he saved from their courtship in the late 1940s. Ellen (age 59) and Nancy (age 67) work with Pride Senior Network to educate workers within the elderly population about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender old people. Dr. Rose Dobrof, a gerontologist, and Terry Kaelber, director of SAGE, discuss with GLBT seniors the importance of leaving a legacy. Dobrof is a commanding presence on camera. At one point, she tells the story of a dear friend who committed suicide. Her point: "The older generation did not make a path."

Gay and Gray in New York is suitable for professionals and students of gerontology who wish to understand this invisible and neglected population. Earlier films, notably Silent Pioneers and SAGE: A Family Portrait, demonstrated the importance of outreach to homebound seniors through programs such as SAGE's Friendly Visitor program, which matches younger gay and lesbian volunteers with GLBT seniors. The monthly socials SAGE sponsors, featured in the two previously mentioned films, are absent from Gay and Gray in New York City. The viewer does not get a glimpse of the vibrant community that SAGE and other groups have organized with and for the 45,000 New York City GLBT seniors mentioned in the video. But the video does offer a glimpse into the diversity of experiences of old gay men and lesbians, and it argues that GLBT elders need to begin to provide the mentoring and assistance to younger generations that were absent in earlier years.

This theme of the importance of legacy—or to paraphrase Rose Dobrof, of the older generation making a path—is notably portrayed by Rex Wilder, the most interesting subject in the video and the source of some of the best visuals. He recalls the beginning of his 50-year-relationship with his partner, Dick, through old photos and copies of letters. This correspondence has been crafted into a reader's theater presentation called "Love Letters," which are excerpts from the correspondence between Rex Wilder (who died in 2002) and his late partner Dick. The issues raised in his presentation—forming a relationship, building trust, and overcoming jealousy over attractions to others—are amazingly contemporary and relevant to the lives of others in the GLBT community facing similar concerns. This reader's theater presentation also included Rex's grief response to Dick's death. A film version of "Love Letters" would be a welcome sequel to Gay and Gray in New York.

Ruth Ellis died peacefully in her sleep a few months after her 101^st birthday in 2001. Fortunately her life was documented and celebrated in the 1999 video, Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100. The video is the story of a remarkable African American lesbian who owned a printing shop in Detroit for thirty years. She was in a committed relationship with another woman, "Babe" Franklin, for about the same period of time (1941–1971). Ruth's life is presented in chronological sequence from her birth in 1899 in Springfield, Illinois, where her father, the first African American mail carrier in Illinois, used to carry Ruth on his bicycle. Ruth's mother died when Ruth was in the eighth grade. Ruth completed high school in 1919 when only 16% of all Americans were high school graduates. She lived with her brother, Harry, who was the first African American physician (and gay) in Champaign, Illinois. Ruth then relocated to Detroit, where she was able to attend a trade school and earn more than twice the wages she was paid in Illinois.

Ruth and Babe's home above Ruth's print shop in Detroit became a gathering place for African American gays and lesbians when there were no other social venues available to them. The dances and card games they hosted, even the fights and arguments between Ruth and Babe, are recreated in the video by A Real Read, an African American GLBT performance group from Chicago. The video also chronicles the history of the African American community in Detroit, the march for civil rights led by Martin Luther King, Jr., in June of 1963 (three months before the historic march on Washington), as well as the riots that erupted and devastated the city in July 1967.

Ruth knew discrimination in her childhood, adolescence, and later life. A white mob burned down the homes of blacks that were married to whites in 1908 in Springfield, Illinois. A Portuguese teacher, on whom Ruth had a crush, would take Ruth's hand when the white girls refused to hold Ruth's hand in gym class. Even when Ruth and another African American man won a state bowling tournament for senior citizens, they were not given the usual banquet to celebrate their victory because they were black.

A major turning point in Ruth's life (and in the video) came in 1979 when Ruth met Jaye Spiro, the teacher of a self-defense class in the senior high rise where Ruth lived. One Valentine's Day, Ruth invited Jaye to dinner at her home, and they came out to each other as lesbians. Jaye then began introducing Ruth to her friends in the mostly white lesbian community. Prior to this time, Ruth had not known any white lesbians. Social circles in the gay and lesbian communities in Detroit were often segregated by race.

Through her friendships with Jaye and other women, Ruth became something of a celebrity in the lesbian community. Ruth received royal treatment at the Michigan Women's Music Festival, where she was given her own tent. Women were eager to hear her stories. In the video Ruth was given an honorary doctorate and celebrated with a special day named for her. She attended an African American gay and lesbian church. In one scene, when Ruth is asked when the last time she had sex was, she answers, "I guess I was about 95."

This video is visually appealing. The historical footage paints a recognizable context for Ruth's life. The period music from the 20th century creates a sense of celebration. The producer of the video does not shy away from tackling difficult issues, including racism and sex. Although the video is about an old lesbian, it is also about vital aging. Ruth was connected to her neighbors. Although she was probably the oldest person in her building, she often ran errands and shopped for some of her neighbors. She was an active member of a community of faith. She was physically active and loved to dance. She continued to learn, taking classes in computers and self-defense.

Members of the lesbian community can be inspired with Ruth as a role model. African Americans can see one of their own as an independent business owner and a woman of faith. She was a servant to others; for instance, she helped college students get on their feet financially. The producers of this video had the foresight to capture Ruth Ellis's life 1 year before her death. She was an ordinary person who lived an extraordinary life for more than a century.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yoakam, J. R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Yoakam, J. R.