The Los Angeles LGBT Center Senior Services is hosting a Thanksgiving Day event for its participants at its Triangle Square Senior Apartments.
“We do this to provide our LGBT seniors a safe and warm place to spend the Thanksgiving holiday, where they feel comfortable to be who they are as LGBT men & women,” Deputy Director of Senior Services Tripp Mills said. It’s about creating a safe space for our diverse community.”
The Los Angeles LGBT Center took over the annual event in 2014. Previously, Metropolitan Community Church had been hosting the holiday dinner since 2007. Mills says that attendees can expect a “wonderful hot meal,” including turkey, stuffing, salad, desserts, tea, lemonade and more.
For many people in the LGBTQ+ community, the holidays can be especially tough because many are isolated and/or rejected from their family of origin,” Mills said. “Many LGBTQ+ Seniors do not have partners or children, or the financial means and resources to travel to visit family. LGBTQ+ men and women have had to create their own families from within the community. It is in these support systems that people find connection. We also know that a higher percentage of LGBTQ+ seniors are isolated and alone, so the holidays can reinforce those feelings of loneliness and isolation.”
On Saturday, November 23, the Center will hosted a potluck event at the new Senior Center called “Friendsgiving.” On Thanksgiving Day, the Center is hosting a “traditional Thanksgiving dinner,” with seatings at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for about 150 seniors. The dinner works with local organizations, including Metropolitan Community Church, Gay Men’s Chorus and the LGBT Center, to provide food and volunteers for the event. This is not a public event; it is open to registered Senior Services participants at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
