The Diverse Elders Coalition and its five coalition member organizations will all be represented at this year’s Aging in America Conference.  In the weeks leading up to the conference, we will be sharing blog posts from coalition members who are presenting or attending ASA, and what it means to them.  This week’s post comes from Aaron Tax, JD, Director of Federal Government Relations at SAGE.

In approximately one week, I will be heading to the American Society on Aging convention in Chicago to present on, among other things, HIV/aging, along with HIV and aging experts Mark Brennan-Ing, Richard Gollance, Ron Swanda, and Ben de Guzman of the Diverse Elders Coalition. The presentation is entitled “Being Gay Ain’t What It Used To Be” – and this panel won’t be your typical panel.

This presentation came from conversations where we realized that there is a disconnect between many LGBT older adults who were pioneering gay activists and many younger LGBT folks who have little if no appreciation for what this generation survived and accomplished. Some older adults feel disrespected or misunderstood even when that’s not the intention of the younger generation. As a result, we felt that it would be important to address intergenerational cultural competency among LGBT folks.

We’ll cover Stonewall and how open we are about being gay and how we feel with ourselves; the impact of HIV on our life now and in the past; and our professional identities — what motivates us to do the kind of work that we do. I encourage you to attend! ASA, Monday, March 23, 2015, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM. Water Tower (West Tower, Bronze Level).

For a guide to all of the Diverse Elders Coalition members’ presentations at ASA, click here.