The ThunderBlogs

The West End of Vancouver is an area of tremendous contrast. It is an area where within minutes one is able to walk directly from an elderly populated diner to Pumpjack Pub, a gay bar only three blocks away.

Yet while initially these unusual images evoke the thought of “contrast,” if one walked through the Davie Village the contrast of the situation quickly fades, and the terms “convergence” and “acceptance” possess more significance.

At closer observation, an elderly gay couple strut contentedly holding hands smiling at a young straight gay couple waiting at the bus stop.

In the heart of the Davie Village, sitting on a bench while acknowledging everyone that walked by sat a 75-year-old man, Gary Resdin. Resdin has lived and retired in Vancouver’s West End with his boyfriend of many years.

“Everyone blends in here: the transgendered, the young and even the homeless,” said Resdin.

When asked about the relationship between the gay and elderly communities he said, “there is a nice flow here. It really does feel safe and civil.”

Elderly gay and lesbian communities such as Gary Resdin have been a demographic group that have been virtually ignored. Programs and events for the gay and lesbian community are fairly common in today’s modern environment but are not often targeted at senior citizens.

Fortunately, Qmunity, the West End’s LGTB Resource Centre, seeks to support older gays and lesbians through a variety of intergenerational activities, illuminating the sexual liberation of the area itself.

Out of an immense schedule outlining a series of activities and workshops held by Qmunity was a weekly knitting club, or as they more enjoyably like to refer to themselves as “The Knotty Knitters.”

The Knotty Knitters are a Sunday knitting club with an overarching goal to advocate support and acceptance for the elderly gay community and generate generational assimilation. As everyone passed around varying colors of yarn while complementing the oatmeal cookies in which one woman had brought in, the atmosphere remained pleasant.

Ranging from the elderly gay man from Nova Scotia to a first-time young Asian knitter, the conversation then flooded with interesting personal anecdotes lasting until the late afternoon.

While the generationally diverse group of knitters sat peacefully knitting and teaching others, the ambience and outlook of the West End’s population became clear: it is not about how old you are, but how you experience your age.