For the sake of experimentation, I decided that, while I was last in New York City, I would try and visit Queens Community Center for Gay Seniors, formerly SAGE Queens. Their offices are right down the street from the Queens Pride House. I would also visit SAGE Manhattan, located on the 15th floor of 305 7th Avenue (Fashion Avenue, I think). SAGE Manhattan had a nice Halloween Party, but the refreshments were rather Spartan. One presentation at QCC for Gay Seniors was a NYC police captain who gave a lecture on walking safely through Queens’ neighborhoods. That was okay but mostly it was common sense stuff.
The other presentation was by an orthopedic surgeon from Long Island Jewish Hospital, who gave an update on what is possible when it comes to hip and knee replacements. The lecture was quite informative. After the presentation I asked the surgeion what he thought of Glucosamine as a treatment for osteoporosis in the knees, He said Glucosamine was overpriced and that, to relieve symptoms of osteoporosis or arthritis in the knees, the senior’s best bet would be bicycling. I said that occasionally I use Glucosamine, and unless the price went up recently, I did not think it was too expensive. Since I do a lot of biking, weather permitting, I was glad to hear it was a good therapy for osteoporosis in the knees.
At SAGE New York, the Director named Burtiss, was rather aggressive asking the guests what kind of groups they wanted. I said that, since I heard that many of the returning veterans were getting short-changed on their benefits, it would be good if there were a gay and Lesbian veterans club. Abracadabra, there was the first meeting of the Veterans Club. I attended the first meeting and listened to various veterans. Some said they stayed in the closet to survive; others said they were out of the closet and no one bothered them. I think homophobia went bananas during the 60’s, but before that, it was not much of an issue.
Of course, that whole session reminded me of the Vietnam War. I was against it from the beginning mainly because the administration’s justification for military intervention over there just did not have that ring of authenticity. I also remember that the peace marches got so large that you could not even get to them because the number of people jammed up the subway system. They were as big as the Lesbian and Gay Pride marches.
One veteran whose name was Tom said that, when there was still an East Germany, he was assigned the task of transcribing everything on the East German radio stations. He did that for two years. Previously, when he was still in the United States, the U. S. Army sent him to California to a foreign language school where he learned German, then he went to Austria and took psychology courses in German and more German language studies. So Tom requested SAGE New York set up a German Club. At the first meeting it was pretty much he and yours truly. And then I had to come back to Colorado. I hope the German Club survives, but who knows? I have a minor obsession with the German Language although my first love is French. There seems to be a nice French Conversation Club that meets every Friday evening for an hour. That is a lot of fun. One fellow I knew from past Gay French Clubs was Don Ventura who is teaching French, Spanish and Italian every Saturday. Sounds wonderful. Last but not least is the Italian Club. I attended one meeting. It is run by an elderly Lesbian named Itala (what else?) and her partner. I would rename these groups Le Cercle Français, the Italian group, Il Circolo Italiano and the German group the Deutschverein. Why not?
Every time I see Burtiss or his assistant, Margaret, I suggest some more clubs. I suggested he get a retired gay lawyer to explain all the changes in the marriage laws and gay civil rights in the United States. These types of meetings at the Lesbian and Gay Center 30 or so years were very popular. Another retired lawyer could give a course on paralegal studies. Burtiss said he knew a lot of retired lawyers and he wanted to use their services and that he liked my ideas.
I also suggested a Spanish conversation club which as of now does not exist. I am pretty sure that would work. New York City has a large number of gay and Lesbian Hispanic ethnic clubs, and they are quite popular. But then there are also a large number of non-hispanic gay and Lesbian people who are interested in the language itself. For example, moi.
Finally, I suggested a Rachel Maddow fan club. Rachel Maddow is an out of the closet Jewish Lesbian news anchor on MSNBC on cable TV. I think she is the best. Burtiss said he knew about Rachel Maddow. He said that was a good idea and that he knew the women would especially like a club of her fans. By the way, Rachel Maddow recently reported that, at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, there is a so-called “coaching” program, which is actually a psychological guidance program. It is headed by a reparative therapy “expert” named George Rosebush. He is in a word a right-wing quack doctor. Rachel believes the Air Force should not have hired him for his dubious psychological expertise. She asked on her newscast that the Air Force explain why they hired such a person with expertise in a discredited and in some states an illegal psychological procedure called reparative therapy. Near the acreage of the Air Force lies the acreage of the spread for the Focus on the Family. George Rosebush is of course on very good terms with this group, unfortunately. As a result, “Dr.” (in quotes) Rosebush gives them ample opportunity to proselytize the Air Force Cadets. As a result, the gay and I believe even the Lesbian Air Force cadets are being harassed by a bunch of religious fanatics.
I wonder if the Colorado lesgay lib groups picked up on her story.
© 14 December 2013
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