GNOPT News

Please submit a paragraph that describes your hobbies, trips, etc. for inclusion in the newsletter. As previously mentioned, we believe the GNOPT chapter will benefit from greater visibility in our community. The Prime Timer Worldwide group does not set a limit on membership and the numbers vary widely across chapters. Many of our dedicated members have been in the chapter for many years. To illustrate greater visibility, I have participated in two recent local media experiences.

On January 20, 2025, I participated in an hour long Zoom session with Jim Meadows, MSW. Jim is the founding Executive Director of NO AGE. This organization recently celebrated their tenth anniversary and provides services and advocacy for LGBTQ+ older adults in the New Orleans metro area. Jim writes a column for Ambush and our interview was published in a recent issue of the magazine, both print edition and the on-line version. https://www.ambushmag.com/greater-new-orleans-primetimers/

On Thursday, February 18th from 9-10am I was an invited guest on the WHIV.FM community radio show entitled (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays-PFLAG New Orleans – Expanding the Rainbow with hosts Sally Jackson and Josh Carcabasis. This was an hour-long interview. https://whivfm.org/about

The radio station 102.3 FM WHIV-LP is a program of The New Orleans Society for Infectious Disease Awareness (NOSIDA), which was established in 2009 by local activist and infectious diseases physician Dr. Mark Alain Dery. NOSIDA’s focus is to raise awareness about HIV and other infectious diseases through music. NOSIDA received its non-profit status in 2010. As one of the only community radio stations dedicated to human rights and social justice, WHIV-FM uplifts marginalized voices and creates waves of change both locally and nationally. National News. The numbers of LGBTQ adults in the US have significantly increased. Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ, Gallup survey finds. The percentage of U.S. adults who identify as LGBTQ or something other than heterosexual increased to 9.3%, from 7.6% in 2023. Gallup conducted random telephone interviews over the last year with 14,000 adults living in all 50 states and found that about 900 identified as LGBTQ. The increases have been driven by young people, and by bisexual women.

The increase in LGBTQ identification over the last year is due to more of Generation Z, who are 19 to 28, reaching adulthood. Nearly one-quarter, 23.1%, of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ, according to the Gallup report, compared with 14.2% of millennials, who are 29 to 44; 5.1% of Generation X, who are 45 to 60; 3% of baby boomers, who are 61 to 79; and 1.8% of those 80 and older.

In the surveys, there were large differences in L.G.B.T.Q. identification by political ideology. Twenty-one percent of liberals identified this way, compared with 3 percent of conservatives. There were also significant gender differences: Women were almost twice as likely as men to identify as L.G.B.T.Q. In Gen Z, 31 percent did, compared with 12 percent of men. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/upshot/lgbtq-survey-results.html

Please email me or our other Board members if you have any suggestions or questions. We want to be responsive to our members.