I am a 61yr old, retired Gay Veteran. I am a former member of One Inc., Radical Faeries & one of Harry Hay's friends from the 1960s. Quite often I was 'out' in the military, with a high sec. Cl. But because I kept it 'private' no one said anything. After I retired, I was an activist in DC for 4 yrs & for 4 yrs in AZ. Now I am in a nursing home, due to military injuries, but am still fully mentally competent. I have tried to connect with local 'younger' GLBTs but they shy away because of my age & place of residence. Do you have any contacts or chapters in Northern Arizona? Or someone in Southern AZ that would at least keep in contact with me by phone & email?

Dear Gay Veteran, I was very touched reading your letter and wish that there was something immediate that I can do. I am so pleased that you have been persistent in reaching out. First of all, is there any community center near where you live? Any SAGE organization would be connected to a LGBT center. If there is a center near you or accessible by email, contact them with your questions. Find out what organizations meet there and, if any, are relevant to what you want. So far, have your contacts and rejections been through chat rooms or what? I suggest you also call the SAGE office in NYC and ask about SAGE Net member organizations. It is just in the process of getting formalized so there may be some contacts that could be useful to you since you are willing to keep in touch through email. You can keep writing to the SAGE website and put it out there that you want to make contacts. You can also contact the various senior programs in your area, if there are any and ask them some of the same questions. You can also contact the Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund on the internet and ask them the same questions. Though they predominantly deal with durrent servicemembers, they may have contacts for you. Good luck and let me know what happens. Harold