Retirement at Rainbows End?
The hopes of spending their twilight years in peaceful tranquility and security are fading faster than a Pacific sunset for many gay couples in Santa Fee, New Mexico, as the all gay and lesbian retirement community RainbowVision filed bankruptcy protection. Proving even the pink dollars are not immune from recession and the economic downturn.
RainbowVision was supposed to be a wonderful trailblazing open, respectful, secure and high quality retirement community especially for gay and lesbian people. It opened in a blaze of glory in 2006 and was one of the first retirement communities especially for gays and lesbians. RainbowVision claimed to offer elegancy and security and above all acceptance for gay and lesbian couples, that is hard to find in other, more traditional retirement communities.
Many older gay people, often termed The Stonewall generation, as they are the first ‘out’ openly gay cluster of senior citizens rushed to sign up and buy into such communities as RainbowVision. And who can blame them, we all want a peaceful retirement, these folk simply wanted a place where they could spend the rest of their days in dignity, in security, made to feel welcome and where they could be free to be themselves and not herded back into the closet.
However such dreams are in tatters now as RainbowVision has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The group has been stifled by vast financial problems, then there was a stingingly bad an bitter dispute between the management and residents. So much for the happy and peaceful retirement, they had sought.
Yet, the situation of RainbowVision is not unique, nope not at all, many other gay and lesbian retirement communities are facing a similar fate, a Sarasota retirement complex has also filed for bankruptcy protections. These are hard times indeed, whilst some of these safe enclaves of retirees are in dire financial straits, others, for example those in Austin, Boston and Phoenix have failed to even open at all.
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