With our main annual fundraiser being cancelled due to coronavirus, we are asking our supporters to help in other ways. In order we can continue delivering our critical work to our community.

The Ruby Slipper Ball maybe in lockdown mothballs but the good work goes on! Like the Yellow Brick Road

Facing old age alone isn’t an exclusive concern for any one person in the world. However, when you have lived through an era where homosexuality was illegal or taboo, when you haven’t felt comfortable living your true life your whole life, when your partner or friends of 40 years die and you have few to no family or neighbours to turn to, what do you do?

Not only are older people who identify as LGBT 50% more likely to be living alone than their straight peers, but they are more likely to be estranged from their families, less likely to have children, have seen the decline of the gay bars as a social space in the age of the dating app and may still have lingering, internalised feelings of shame from growing up during a less enlightened age.

Combatting isolation and loneliness among older LGBT+ people and promoting intergenerational communication within gay communities isn’t just a gay issue, it’s a societal one.

How we deal with this issue says a lot about us (the wider community): our values and priorities, our belief in inclusion, the idea that diversity is one of community’s greatest strengths. Everyone’s life is better if everyone’s life is better.

Friends of Dorothy is a charity that champions social inclusion for older LGBT+ people by hosting regular activities and events. We are a welcoming inclusive group that supports our members to keep well, have fun and stay connected.