By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

A screening of the film “10 More Good Years,” a documentary addressing challenges facing GLBTs in their later years, sparked a lively discussion Aug. 26 at the Center on Halsted.

The film’s maker, Mike Jacoby, attended the screening along with one of the film’s subjects, lesbian activist Ivy Bottini. The event was sponsored by Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders.

“10 More Good Years” profiles a number of seniors in GLBT communities across the U.S., including photographer/filmmaker James Bidgood, who made the 1971 film “Pink Narcissus”; performance artist Harry Bartron; trans performer Miss Major; and Bottini, among many others.

The film discusses a number of issues facing GLBT seniors, including their lack of financial safety nets thanks to inequitable government tax and inheritance policies, their treatment in long-term care facilities and their relationship to younger members of the GLBT community.

Jacoby started the discussion by saying, “I apologize if I left anybody out,” mentioning that he knew there were many groups whose stories he could not tell in the film, which has been a work in progress for many years.

He said, however, that he hoped the film might inspire activist activity from and on behalf of GLBT seniors.

Jacoby said, “We have to build alliances. One thing about the gay community is (that) we’re not out there to fight. We’re better at sitting down and solving problems than the straight community is.”

He added, “We need to be persistent (and) we need to sit down with our straight allies. The elder population, homosexual or heterosexual, are second-class citizens.”

Bottini, who started New York’s National Organization for Women chapter as well as Los Angeles’ first AIDS organization, mainly discussed her efforts to start Triangle Square, a housing facility for GLBT seniors in West Hollywood, Calif.

Bottini said it is vital that GLBT elders constantly make their needs known to elected officials and community leaders, a lesson that was brought home during the drive to raise money for Triangle Square’s construction.

The facility came to be after plans for a home for retired musicians fell through. An insider called Bottini and told her to quickly come to a Los Angeles city council meeting that had been scheduled to vote on the musicians’ home. Since the musicians’ organization was walking away from the project, Botini was told her group should ask for the funds or the money would disappear.

Bottini said she was floored when “everyone on that council voted ‘yes’” in favor of the GLBT housing.

“We walked out of that room in about 20 minutes with $6.5 million and the architectural plans,” she said.

Triangle Square currently has about 130 units, with rents ranging from $225-$750 a month.

“This is just the first building. We are going to be consultants for anyone in the United States and help them know how to use the system,” Bottini said. “We’re ready to just go around the country and help communities do what we did.”

She stressed that GLBT elders have to make sure their needs are known to politicians.

“There has to be someone to ask, ‘Does this resolution include lesbians and gay men?’” Even if it doesn’t relate to you, get it out there anyway,” Bottini said.

Serena Worthington, director of SAGE, said she knows that it would be impossible to house every GLBT senior in a place like Triangle Square, so GLBT seniors are going to have to work alongside straight ones.

“Any kind of bridge building is a way of breaking down stereotypes,” Worthington said. “We need to take advantage of mainstream aging and the compassion that’s there.”

Jacoby, who is based in New York, said he conceived the film when, during his daytime job as a waiter, he met a gay man in his 70s. The man asked Jacoby out for coffee, he told Jacoby, “because I need new friends.” Jacoby said that the man’s stories really inspired the film.

The filmmaker is currently working on getting financing to complete post-production, but Jacoby said the content of the film is locked in place, adding that he hopes the film can inspire more awareness of the challenges GLBT seniors face.

“We need to come together as a family again,” he said.

For information on “10 More Good Years” visit www.10moregoodyears.com. For information on SAGE visit www.centeronhalsted.org.