The culture wars today are often played out with LGBT rights being under attack in many of our conservative states. Target's decision to respect the choices of the transgender community is now getting the expected push back from the political right with their campaign to boycott Target. We know how this political debate will turn out because we saw the same arguments decades ago against the civil rights efforts. Even in our present day it seems that fear and anxiety about our differences still cause some to deny rights to others who differ from them. However, expanding rights will always win out in the long run against those who want to discriminate and deny rights to individuals. That's what we call progress.
What is often overlooked in the campaign for expanding rights for the LGBT population is that the struggle has been fought by many people who are now senior citizens. Often they faced much stronger pressure to "stay in the closet" than what is faced today. Unfortunately staying in the closet only delayed the progress that we see today.
On Thursday May 12 at 6:00 pm at the Bain Center the LGBT Older Adults Task Force of Howard County is showing the movie "Cloudburst" starring Olympia Dukakis as Stella and Brenda Fricker as Dotty. Doors open at 5:30 with refreshments. This film is about a lesbian couple from Maine who embark on a road trip to Nova Scotia to get marred after Dotty is moved into a nursing home by her granddaughter. On the way they pick up a young male hitchhiker.
A discussion will follow the film addressing the issues of family dynamics, aging, loss and love. To learn more about the LGBT Older Adult Task Force check out their Facebook Page.
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