For the generation that weathered the AIDS epidemic and fought for same-sex marriage, finding community still poses a challenge.
While many older Americans struggle with housing, LGBTQ+ seniors face unique challenges. They are twice as likely to be single and live alone than non-LGBTQ+ seniors, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 20 percent have experienced homelessness.
But in Boston, LGBTQ+ seniors have The Pryde — New England’s first affordable senior living community geared toward LGBTQ+ elders.
GBH News spent six months following residents of The Pryde – which opened in June 2024 in a former public school building – capturing the experiences of a generation that came of age with few legal protections against harassment or discrimination, and who now stand to lose those protections once more. Living in Pryde follows these elders as they tap into a lifetime of resilience to meet the current political moment.
“I see what’s going on in society now, and I have flashbacks to what it was like in the early part of the AIDS epidemic,” said Eddie Whitman, who at age 67 has defied the odds as an HIV/AIDS survivor. “It wasn’t just people getting sick and dying, it was the hatred that went along with it.”
The film explores how The Pryde has become both a target and a refuge — a place where residents believe the strength of community is their most powerful tool in the ongoing fight for equality.
