Rainbow Roundtable is my partner Travis’ baby. It is a group for LGBTQ2S+ seniors packed with interesting presentations and movie night. He even found multiple sponsors to provide refreshments, pizza for the movie nights and gifts for a holiday extravaganza. He has worked tirelessly without counting his hours in order to provide a program worthy of his wonderful participants. This is because he feels grateful for the pioneers who fought for our rights and litterally carved a place for us in society. We still have ways to go and unfortunately, it is those who paved the way who’s rights are compromised as they enter the vulnerable senior population. My partner Travis wants to raise awareness around the fact that folks of our marginalized community are sometimes forced back into the closet when entering a retirement home. This is one of the many points of inclusion that he is working on. He has told me many times that he is adamant on making sure that his holiday party has a positive financial impact on his participants with the many gifts provided by a variety of generous sponsors.
I brought up the fact that there was a need for such a group at the Roundhouse to his attention since I had been asked to bring back Gay and Grey. However, he was more interested in a group with broader inclusion than just Gay men but rather all the identities under the rainbow banner.
He makes wonderful posters like this for each individual event, posting them to his social media suite. As you can see, last Friday the guest was your truly.
It was a pleasurable experience to bond with everyone while sharing the gift of drawing with people who would not have otherwise drawn. How extraordinarily validating it was to help ease them into it with the delightful company of our model, a prolific musician and movie producer whom I had introduced to the mix. Travis joined in the modelling and the duo offered a perfect opportunity to see our subjects as shapes rather than how one would expect a body. If it becomes harder to name body parts, chances are, my artists are more likely to draw what they see. This is why it is good for beginners to tackle complicated subjects but bear in mind these poses came after a set of quick gesture drawings.
With Rainbow Roundtable Travis achieved more that a discussion group with nights like Silver and Sexy or Fit and Fabulous, all animated by talented presenters.
When one is fortunate enough to work on exciting programs for seniors, the stigmas of ageism tend to fade away like a drawing in the sand of a beach washed by ever moving waves. It is very therapeutic because should I live long enough, this is actually going to be me one day. Parts of aging are admittedly difficult and other parts are very beautiful. Furthermore, from my vantage point, I can tell tales of aging which are not prominent in the media which focuses more on the glamorous nature of youth to the detriment of anything else. I am very inspired by the older adults from Rainbow Roundtable but also the ones from some of my own programs which I get to know better. They are dignified, funny and so relatable. The make it seem like aging isn’t a bad thing at all.
This is a video that Travis made of the event! He’s a really good editor so check it out!
