• A shared apartment for LGBT + seniors was inaugurated on Thursday, June 24, in the 9th arrondissement in Paris.

  • The place provides a safe haven for aging LGBT + people, who often find themselves without families and can thus build on social ties in their retirement years.

  • "The logic is not to make them ghettos but places where people want to live together", summarizes Francis Carrier, of Gray Pride, who distinguishes "affinity apartment" and "community apartment".


It is an experiment which could well be emulated.

In Paris, in the 9th arrondissement, a roommate for LGBT + seniors has taken up residence, a first of its kind.

Managed by the Real Estate Agency of the City of Paris (RIVP), the Gray Pride and Basiliade associations, the objective is to alleviate the loneliness of older LGBT people, who often have no or few families and are even more isolated than their heterosexual counterparts of the same age.

In the small courtyard full of green plants of this old building, a slew of personalities have been invited for the inauguration of the place.

We find among others Delphine Burkli, mayor of the 9th arrondissement, Véronique Levieux, deputy in charge of seniors and of course Jean-Luc Romero, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of the fight against discrimination, who has been involved in all LGBT fights for over 40 years old.

No "back to the closet"

"I do not know if I will propose myself, but I tick all the boxes: I am an old gay HIV positive and I no longer have a family", remarks Jean-Luc Romero, who lost in 2018 her husband Christophe Michel .

“When you're LGBT, you've often built your family.

Having the solution to be only in Ehpad is a return to the closet.

Because being gay 50 years ago was not like today, ”adds the elected official.

Opposite, Luc, 76, Franck, 51, Jérôme, 50, and Daniel, 59, agree, before bringing all these beautiful people into their privacy.

The apartment is large, obviously, to accommodate five people.

“It's exceptional because there aren't many F6 or F7 in the 9th,” explains Delphine Burkli.

At the entrance, a blackboard indicates the household tasks and various useful information.

Casting and collective life charter

To enter, you must be at least 50 years old.

Candidates, who have passed a sort of pre-employment interview, are subject to a probationary period of two months, to avoid casting errors.

Each roommate pays a unit rent to Basiliade, who takes over when one of them defects.

Then life is organized.

“We listed the household chores and set up a charter,” explains Jérôme.

Roommates are prohibited from receiving strangers through Grindr, and are required to notify who is invited.

"I am at a turning point in my life"

Official visitors poke their noses into each room, grabbing petits fours on the way.

“Usually we take off our shoes but exceptionally not!

Jerome jokes.

One bedroom serves as an interview room, while in the kitchen still lurk the small pots and provisions which were used to prepare the toasts which welcome the guests.

We approach Daniel's bedroom, where a small square bed adjoins a small wooden desk.

The man is like the bedroom: discreet.

He is a teacher and collaborator of a national education inspector.

“I am at a turning point in my life,” he explains to us.

I don't see myself living alone.

I have no connection with my family.

"

"Affinity apartment" vs "community apartment"

The one who defines himself as an “aging gay” had not necessarily left to live there, but by dint of visiting the place, he has matured his project, which corresponds to his appetite for collective experiences: “To get closer on the other hand, you can know who you are, you can find something there, you learn about yourself. And for me, this co-location means participating in the implementation of something. "

Daniel, who arrived in March, recognizes that there can be difficult times, as in any shared apartment, but he remains very attached to the concept: "It feels like part of a family".

For Francis Carrier, of Gray Pride, a collective of associations which fights against the isolation of older LGBT people, it is all the difference between an “affinity apartment” and a “community apartment”.

Here the place lives, it is crossed by multiple personalities, but it "looks like those who live there".

"The logic is not to turn them into ghettos but places where people want to live together", summarizes this militant in the double fight, ageism and homophobia.

Luc, Franck, Jérôme and Daniel have been looking for a fifth thief since March.

Notice to the population ?

Paris

The "pride march" takes place for the first time in the suburbs, in Pantin, this Saturday

Series

Pride Month: Seven Series to Celebrate LGBTQI +

  • Housing

  • Discrimination

  • Paris

  • The elderly

  • Lgbt

  • Homosexuality

  • Homophobia