June is Senior's Month in Ontario, and Pride Month in Canada, and today's episode explores the intersection, with an interview with Brad Lawrence at The Village of Winston Park, and Kadri Phillips at The Village of Riverside Glen, about the past and present of "Pride" at their respective retirement facilities. This was a deeply interesting conversation: on the surface, it may seem like a simple act to hang a rainbow/pride flag in a retirement centre, but in reality Brad set out to start that process in 2017, and has only this year succeeded in raising it. Riverside Glen is following Brad's example, and are having Pride celebrations for the first time just this year. And there are so many important factors as to why it takes time to see this progress - this generation of seniors who reside in these facilities grew up in a very different time, where topics of identity, sexuality and gender were not spoken of as openly. It is so important to establish these facilities as safe spaces for both future and present residents, and Brad and Kadri are doing an amazing job navigating how to ease these residents into considering perspectives they've maybe never been given space to discuss. This is hard and important work and thank you so much for Brad, Kadri, and the rest of your supportive staff for taking it on!
This interview was originally recorded on June 27th 2020
