A special nursing home for LGTBI elderly is preparing to open its doors in Madrid

In the Villaverde district of Spain's capital, Madrid, the construction of a new care facility specially designed for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGTBI) individuals is nearing completion. This unique project aims to provide a safe haven for elderly LGTBI individuals who face unwanted loneliness in their old age and lack traditional family support networks. Scheduled to open before the end of the year, the center will not only provide shelter but also build a space of solidarity where people with shared life experiences can age together. This initiative, carried out by the 26 December Foundation (Fundación 26 de Diciembre), is being brought to life as the result of about a decade of dedication and overcoming countless obstacles. The main goal of the project is to allow individuals who have faced social exclusion to age in peace and with respect.

Although the foundations of this meaningful project were laid when the Autonomous Community of Madrid allocated the building to the foundation, the process has turned into an extremely challenging journey. The initiative, which began about nine years ago, had to overcome many major obstacles, including the devastating effects of the pandemic, serious structural issues that emerged during construction, and financial difficulties caused by excessive price increases in fuel and construction materials. Foundation President Juanjo Argüello states that this long and arduous process has now come to an end and that they expect the renovation works to be completed by the end of the year. All these delays and setbacks posed a great test of patience for the project's future residents and supporters. However, at the point reached today, there is great satisfaction as all these seemingly insurmountable challenges have been left behind and the end is near.

The founding story of the foundation is based on a lack of social awareness regarding the aging experiences of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender individuals in Spain. Established about fifteen years ago, the foundation determined at the time that the aging processes of people with different sexual orientations and identities were completely invisible in a heteronormative society. The foundation's president emphasizes that LGTBI individuals reaching their thirties and fifties feel as if they have been erased and disappeared from society, stating that the institution's primary goal is to increase the visibility of this demographic. While the institution's field of work in the past focused on concerns regarding premature aging in connection with HIV, today it is expressed that priorities have changed due to HIV being brought under control thanks to medical advancements. Today, in a rapidly aging world and in Spain, the biggest problem for this demographic is no longer physical illnesses, but a deepening and inextricable sense of chronic loneliness.

Many people who contact the institution carry the anxiety of who will care for them in their older ages and seek solutions with this concern. By using only the active listening method, the foundation understands the individuals' needs and shapes the center entirely in accordance with these real needs. Rather than just providing physical shelter, they aim to bring together people with similar backgrounds, traumas, and experiences of exclusion to establish a healthy social network. This new generation nursing home project has drawn attention not only in Spain but also from the international media in countries such as South Africa, Australia, Germany, France, and Belgium, generating significant global interest. The issue of care and socialization for elderly LGTBI individuals is no longer just a local need; it is seen as a universal human rights issue that the entire increasingly aging world must resolve.

In addition to the nursing home project, the foundation is also conducting a highly important archiving work called 'Emotional Memories' (Memorias Afectivas) in order not to erase the traces of the past and to transmit experiences to the future. Foundation officials, who note that society generally focuses only on the more colorful or sexuality-oriented aspects of homosexual relationships, emphasize that these individuals also have deep emotions, great loves, and shared life projects. Secret letters written by couples who had to hide their relationships during the years of social pressure and censorship, old photographs, and very special testimonies are being carefully collected. These documents bring to light the necropolis of forbidden loves, silently experienced breakups, and deep friendships kept secret for many years, proving how fragile the human bonds built from the past to the present are. The bitter reality pointed out by the answer 'When they stop loving us,' given to a journalist's question 'When do we stop being young?', reveals that what these individuals seek the most in their old age is love, affection, and a deep sense of belonging.