Dayspring Villa’s LGBT + Friends group recently got the chance to fulfill a long-standing wish. For several years, the gay-straight alliance group has wanted to attend a performance of one of Denver’s LGBT+ choruses. Last month, thanks to the generosity of a kind supporter who donated tickets for the group, they were able to attend the Sage Singers 5th Anniversary Concert.
The Sage Singers is a Denver-based chorus of LGBTQ+ elders and straight allies that aims to create community through song. Founded in 2018, their mission is to celebrate the lives of LGBTQ elders through story and song, to create a safe and supportive community for LGBTQ+ elders, and to serve and engage the public by sharing their music.
The concert, 5 Years of Song! featured themes of self-acceptance, connection, and aging – topics which resonated with the members of Dayspring’s LGBT + Friends group, and frequently feature in the group’s monthly meetings.
In addition to enjoying a beautiful musical performance, the LGBT + Friends group was grateful for the opportunity to interact with a wider part of the Denver LGBTQ+ community. Residents loved meeting new and old friends.
The concert was even more meaningful because one of Dayspring’s new residents is a long-standing member of the choir. Her neighbors were delighted to be there to support her and watch her perform. Her smile when she found them in the audience during intermission was heartwarming.
After the concert, the group enjoyed a hamburger dinner together before heading back home, incredibly grateful for the opportunity to enjoy an afternoon of song, connection, purpose, meaning, and joy with other older LGBT+ adults.
Judith Nelson, the founder of the Sage Singers, started the group with a vision of proving LGBTQ and allied elders opportunities for quality artistic expression. She says “We all know that in our culture old people are not valued as highly as youth are. And of course in our culture LGBT folks, frankly, are not valued as highly either. So – we have a double whammy, being old and gay.”
As residents in the LGBT + Friends group know very well, the intersection of being LGBTQ and an older adult can be a complicated one.
The concert leaned into both themes. One song, Naked in the Leaves, featured two same-sex couples singing sweetly to each other. “Do you remember the place where our love first began?” the songs ask, “The two of us, young at heart, building castles in the sand.” “Time so quickly slipped away, our tomorrows melting into yesterdays,” the lyrics note, bittersweetly, before concluding with the loving statement “So if you were wondering and need to know – it was worth growing old with you, now that we’re old.”
The elders of the LGBT + Friends group appreciated the Sage Singers refusal to shy away from the topic of aging. As Judith puts it: “It’s time to stop hiding. It’s time to quit pretending that we are not as old as we are. It’s time to stop supporting the huge anti-aging industry!”
Gay and lesbian choruses have a long history in the United States. Many were founded in the 1970s and 1980s, and exist in cities across the country, including Denver. Every four years, choruses from around the country come together to perform at the GALA (Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses) Festival.
Sage Singers will perform at this year’s GALA festival in Minneapolis. They will be the only elder chorus represented. The LGBT + Friends group is looking forward to watching their performance virtually (it will be streaming online) and cheering them on.
Dayspring Villa’s LGBT + Friends group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 3pm and is always open to new members. This year the group is celebrating its 7th anniversary of providing a safe and supportive space for connection between LGBT elders, team members, and their allies.
