Eye to Eye: Portraits of Pride, Strength, Beauty

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Fri, Feb 21, 2025 - Sun, Apr 20, 2025  9am - 5pm

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These are your neighbors, your friends, your relatives, your colleagues.

You see them — and others like them — every day.

They’re older women.

They’re part of the LGBTQ community.

And they’re brave.

The women in these portraits grew up when coming out meant risking their health, their jobs, their housing, their families, their friends. To stay safe, many stayed silent for years. Stereotypes and stigma filled the vacuum of silence.

The women you see here are taking a risk to be seen as they really are. To show that being openly LGBTQ is profoundly human and courageous.

There are 2.4 million LGBTQ older adults living in the U.S. Many of them, like these women, will tell you they’ve been whispered about, shouted at, insulted, rejected, isolated.

Things have improved, but undercurrents of misunderstandings, fear, and discrimination still exist. Even today, there are no consistent federal anti-discrimination protections for people who are LGBTQ. And, according to Harvard Medical Magazine in 2020, the stress of living a lifetime of stigma and discrimination can take up to 12 years off their lives.
About Carey Candrian:

I’m an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and on the National Board of Directors at GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality. I came out to myself when I was 16 and didn’t tell my family and friends until I was 28. It’s still hard.

I interviewed nearly three dozen older LGBTQ women (59-85 years old) during the first year of COVID-19 to understand their health needs and the challenges as they age. Since 2014, I’ve been dedicated to advancing health equity for older LGBTQ communities.

As I was taking these pictures, one of the participants met me outside with a sheet of paper that she had hanging in her office. “This reminds me of what you’re doing,” she said. The sign read: “The bravest choice you can make is to be yourself.” I did this exhibit because I wanted more people to meet these women. To look in their eyes. To be in the same room and wonder, how many other older adults we know might be silent about this fundamental part of their lives?

Why do we make it so difficult for people to be who they really are?
And how can we make it better — safer — for them to speak out, and be heard?