A Elderly people belonging LGBTI -community In Mexico, they usually face loneliness, the abandonment of young generations and the need to stay in the “closet” in order not to confront their families at the last stage of their life.
Pablo Orozko Chavez, the coordinator of the Apapacho community, which serves this group of population in Guadalahara (West Mexico), told the Epheas that, according to their calculations, about half of homosexuals in the third age are married and have children, which further complicates the expression of their identity.
“The fact is that there are some or most who do not want to visualize. I have no statistics, but the calculation of 50 percent (…) of the elderly is married and we have children. We still have a very large weight that is loaded with this social, religious part, ”he said.
Although most of the homosexual population has economic opportunities for survival, because most have no offspring, many of them are rejected by their families or young generations who consider them strangers from their circle, Orozko Chavez explained.
“Many times for 30 or 40 years (you are) – the old man, and the same young generations tell you: no (we want), not gentlemen, not mature,” he said.
Alone
Another obstacle to the senior adult gay is that those who left the closet at some moment in their lives live alone and not wanting to leave their homes. According to Orozko Chavez, even many of those who live in shelters prefer to hide their sexual orientation.
“There are probably people from the elderly people of LGBTI who are not married, who can be more likely to feel lonely, there are even the elderly who told us that we died friends alone,” he said.
For Miguel of the Angel Herrero, a 67 -year -old pensioner, who reaches the elderly, is to encounter many moments in which it should be understood that the family has their own times and processes and are not always available.
“(Al) arrival at the elderly reaches the point of great loneliness, in which you should know how to work in order not to get into depression,” he said to Epheas.
To remain active, the former adviser attends Zumba classes, carries a healthy routine that helps to avoid isolation and generate connections.
“I do not allow myself to stagger this loneliness or pursue myself. I get up and say: we go outside, I am doing something, I do not know. I think that I still learned to work on this, in this sense this community is important, ”he said.
Make a community
Miguel Angel Herrero and Ignasio Mugnos, 68 years old, are part of the Apapacho community, a civil initiative created a year ago, which offers attention and a safe and inclusive space for residents of LGBTI of the population of the elderly for the development of entertainment events and the creation of ties.
Mugnos, an expert who lives with his partner, knows that not many people in the community have the necessary support and live completely alone.
“(The project) is monitors, he motivates, he is trying to fill the mood for a little more in order to cheer up the mood of many people who are in our homosexual community of older people, we really need it. (…) They need safe places, ”he said.
In addition to recreation and organizational activity for mutual and inter -ocal assistance, the Apapacho community is aimed at creating stable alternatives, such as joint use only for people.
“Five people have money, buy a house, and expenses are distributed. It is easier to pay a nurse among several, which only, ”Pablo Orozko Chavez explained.
They also think about how colleagues as an alternative. For those who cannot buy a house, it is viable to rent a house among several, reduce expenses and generate a company.
The community coordinator states that it is urgent to serve this sector of the population, because in 2025 30 percent of citizens will have 60 or more years.
“The truth is that I don’t know whether we will be ahead or not, but I think it’s time to speak on it, expose and investigate what can happen,” he concluded.
With information EFE
