New Westminster's Century House celebrated Pride week in style with an open house hosted by the organization's gay-straight alliance.
The Aug. 13 event brought out a mix of familiar faces and new people, who mingled while nibbling on cake and cookies.
"It was good," said Vance McFadyen, one of the group's founders. "(We had) an introduction around the floor and just socializing. It went really well."
The group has been going strong for the past two years at Century House, a seniors' activity centre in Moody Park. The gay-straight alliance's goal is to bridge understanding between straight folks and the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community, particularly among seniors.
"(There's) still that old fashioned (attitude) 'That's totally wrong, abhorrent, against nature,'" said McFadyen. "As they get educated (they) understand this is not something that's brand new in the world, it's just been hidden in the world."
The gay-straight alliance, or GSA for short, meets the second Wednesday of every month, and 12 to 20 people usually show up, McFadyen said.
They host presentations and guest speakers, screen documentaries and watch Ted talks together.
"We're trying to educate those gay people and straight people in all aspects of life, not just in the gay community, in helping seniors, especially those who have never been involved in the gay community, to just see we're regular folks after all," McFadyen said.
Century House's peer seniors' counsellors have become involved in the GSA to better understand gay issues, McFadyen added.
While the group helps connect people, there's still work to do in addressing homophobia and understanding the LGBT community.
"It's just a real lack of understanding, something that's basically ignored. A lot if that has religious aspects to it. A lot of people have trouble just walking over the bridge ... and understanding gay people," McFadyen said.
One example of building connections, McFadyen recalled, was a husband and wife who came to a GSA meeting. At first, the wife seemed more open to the group, while the husband seemed reticent.
"I noticed the wife was more open to this than the husband was, but at the end of the meeting he became much more relaxed. He began to relax and see us just as people discussing things. He became more involved in the group," McFadyen said. "It's something that takes a long time to build up, the support and the trust. Also I think it's something that going to be more an more successful."
The gay straight alliance is now an official activity group at Century House. The next meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Century House, 62,0 Eighth St. Participants must be at least 50 years old to attend.
