Eloise HorsfieldSPAIN’S first gay and lesbian retirement home is set to open in Madrid in 2014 – if organisers receive the support they need.
Homophobia is rife in old people’s homes in Spain, partly to the fact that gay people were persecuted under Franco’s dictatorship.
“Homosexuals who go into homes often also have to go straight back into the closet,” said Federico Armenteros, who is at the heart of the scheme to open the home for 230 residents in Rivas-Vaciamadrid.
“This will be a place that is open to everyone and where no one will have to hide their sexuality.”
There will also be a unit for HIV positive residents, who are sometimes barred from existing homes.
Armenteros is currently recruiting donors for a co-operative that will fund the home – and has so far achieved 20 out of the 120 needed.
His NGO, the December 26 Foundation, is named after the day in 1978 when gay men were removed from a law against people labelled as ‘socially dangerous’, three years after Franco’s death.
Well done Senor Armenteros.I hope your courage is rewarded by success. Given the stranglehold the Catholics have in Spain, I fear you will have an uphill struggle. Nevertheless, the law is on your side and you show a great example to the rest of Europe. Come on you old Gays, support your pioneer!