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A pervasive pattern is sweeping across the elder generation of the LGBT community in what experts in the documentary film GenSilent call an epidemic of discrimination. Aging members of the LGBT community are forced to return to the closet as they enter their “golden years”, replacing dignity with invisibility.

The Charlotte Film Festival, in partnership with The Gay Charlotte Film Festival present GenSilent, a documentary by award-winning director and filmmaker, Stu Maddux (Bob and Jack's 52-Year Adventure Trip to Hell and Back), that explores the day-to-day lives of six LGBT seniors in Boston, Massachusetts over the course of a year.

Unlike any previous LGBT film about aging, GenSilent startlingly discovers how oppression in the years before Stonewall now leaves many elders not just afraid but dangerously isolated. Many LGBT seniors who enter into long-term healthcare are being forced back into the closet for fear of legal and social discrimination.

A recently publicized case in Sonoma County, California brought to light the issue faced by gay elders. Harold Scull and Clay Greene, partners for more than 20 years, were literally pulled apart by the Sonoma County government after Scull fell down the stairs leaving his partner to care for him. Even though both men had drafted wills, power of attorney and health care directives, Sonoma County officials and health care staff refused to recognize their partnership as anything more than roommates and prevented Greene from seeing his partner. After auctioning off the couple’s belongings, terminating their lease and placing both men in separate nursing homes, the government prevented Harold and Clay from ever seeing each other again. Harold Scull died alone and without dignity.

GenSilent explores the wide range in quality of paid caregivers --from those who are specifically trained to make LGBT seniors feel safe, to the other end of the spectrum, where LGBT elders face discrimination, neglect or abuse. In addition to the challenges that these men and women face, GenSilent also evokes hope as each subject crosses paths with a small but growing group of impassioned professionals trying to wake up the long-term and healthcare industries to their plight.


GenSilent screens on Sunday, September 26 at the Regal Park Terrace 6. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased online at http://www.charlottefilmfestival.org/2010/ gen-silent or at the Regal Park Terrace box office.




Bob and Jack's 52-Year Adventure- clip from Stu Maddux on Vimeo.