LGBT films series continues with “Gen Silent”

The
critically acclaimed documentary “Gen Silent” (2011) will be screened Friday,
February 28th at 7:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford, 147
High Street, Medford. The film, directed
and produced by the award-winning filmmaker Stu
Maddux, follows the lives of six Boston-area LGBT
seniors who must decide whether or not to hide their sexuality in order to
survive in the health care system. Their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their
day-to-day lives over the course of a year. “Gen Silent” puts a face on what
experts in the film call an epidemic: gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender
older people so afraid of discrimination by caregivers or bullying by other
seniors that they simply go back into the closet. The film will be open to the
public and free of charge, although donations will be solicited.

As a special bonus, Lisa Krinsky—the
Director of the Boston LGBT Aging Project—will be present and will answer
questions after the screening.

 “Gen Silent” has
been screened at numerous colleges and universities as well as for government
agencies and healthcare organizations. It premiered at the Boston LGBT Film
Festival and has won numerous awards at others. The title of the film is a
reference to the generations of older LGBT people who remain in the closet or
re-enter the closet out of concern for their safety or quality of life.
Unlike any film before, Gen Silent startlingly discovers how oppression
in the years before Stonewall now affects older lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people with fear and isolation. As
a result of the documentary, the term Gen Silent has increased in use as a way
to refer to this group.