Inside France’s first LGBTQIA+ senior residing residence

A lot of the constructing should still be devoid of furnishings, and the backyard little greater than wooden chippings, however there’s color in all places – on rainbow doormats, the rainbow tape cordoning off the veg patch-to-be, and kaleidoscopic posters emblazoned with wordplays like pépé, pédé et professional du potager (grandpa, faggot and gardening professional).

The residents at La Maison de la Diversité have heard such insults repeatedly, however now they’re reclaiming them. It’s moving-in day at France’s first senior residing residence for the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood and allies, and it’s a hive of exercise.

“I cried once they informed me I had a spot,” says Alice*, 58. After residing most of her grownup life as homosexual, she got here out as trans 5 years in the past. Having been attacked 3 times in simply 5 years in Mâcon – a metropolis in Bourgogne, north of Lyon, which she describes as having a “small-town mentality” – transferring into La Maison de la Diversité means security and safety.

That is the primary co-living mission from Les Audacieuses & Les Audacieux, an organisation preventing isolation and selling social inclusion throughout the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood and its allies.

The crew behind La Maison de la Diversité– Stéphane Sauvé, Christophe Dercamp and Marie Gaffet – took inspiration from an analogous multigenerational residing mission, Lebensort Vielfalt, which opened in Berlin in 2012. However because it was a very new idea in France, it took years to get off the bottom. Initially deliberate for Paris, they lastly opened a 16-apartment residence in Lyon in October 2025, with 14 flats for over-55s, one for an adolescent aged 18-30, and one other for visitors.

Loneliness and despair are power issues among the many aged in a lot of the western world, however they’re much more pronounced within the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood. Of the 17.8m over-60s in France, 28% of 65 to 79-year-olds and 49% of these over 80 reside alone. Amongst LGBTQIA+ seniors – estimated at greater than one million individuals – that determine rises to 65%, and suicide charges are between two and 7 occasions greater than amongst their heterosexual and cisgender friends.

Gisèle*, 63, skilled profound isolation and suicidal ideas earlier than transferring to La Maison de la Diversité. Having grown up in a rural space of the Loire division, she first fell in love with a lady as an adolescent however by no means acted on her emotions. “Having a relationship or a life with a lady wasn’t one thing I might think about,” she says. “I used to be in love with ladies after I was simply 15 – Florence, Christine – I can nonetheless keep in mind their faces. However my world was conventional and traditional.”

As an alternative, she married a person, moved to Beaujolais’s Villefranche-sur-Saône, and had youngsters. Her husband was reclusive, and so they lived remoted lives. In 2016, Gisèle divorced her husband and got here out as homosexual. However after 30 years with out being a part of a neighborhood, she was profoundly lonely.

“I felt both I’d find yourself turning to drink or throwing myself in entrance of a prepare,” she says. “I’ve arrived right here in a susceptible state – I’m scared of rejection – however a voice inside me tells me that that is the correct resolution for me, on the proper time.”

Comparable tasks exist elsewhere on the planet. There are retirement communities in San Francisco, Palm Springs and different US cities that cater particularly to LGBTQIA+ residents and allies. The primary within the UK, Tonic@Bankhouse, opened in 2024 in London’s Lambeth. What makes La Maison de la Diversité completely different is its fusion of LGBTQIA+ housing with multigenerational residing.

I’ve all the time hidden who I used to be to guard myself from others. There’s a sure freedom that comes with being right here

“Being a part of the queer neighborhood unites us and makes our age variations appear a lot much less vital,” says E*, 25, who has moved into the youth flat. “All of us signed a solidarity contract after we moved in, primarily pledging that we’d assist out.”

The youngest resident by greater than 30 years, E pays a lowered lease. Whereas there’s no obligation to assist with extra chores, they see the residence as working like a flatshare – solely higher. “My mum and I used to tour festivals in our van, so I do know what it’s wish to reside in a neighborhood,” says E. “I couldn’t reside in a flatshare, however I’m delighted to be in co-housing.”

Every house has modest cooking services and ensuite loos, and ranges in measurement from 24 to 42 sq. metres. There’s additionally a big shared kitchen and residing space, a motorbike shed and a communal backyard. Most residents lived alone earlier than transferring right here, together with Thierry*, 73, who relocated from simply three miles away.

“I’ve all the time hidden who I used to be to guard myself from others,” says Thierry. “I’ve been arrested only for being homosexual, simply because I used to be going to a membership. We have been stigmatised. There’s undoubtedly a sure freedom that comes with being right here, however exterior these partitions it’s nonetheless difficult.”

Safety and a way of neighborhood are the primary causes most residents have chosen La Maison de la Diversité. However the likelihood to reside as their most genuine selves opens up one other chance – a recent likelihood at love. As I chat to them, there’s a powerful sense of optimism that one of the best is but to come back.

“Being over-50 and trans is like having a double expiry date,” says Alice, “however there’ll be a lot extra scope for courting right here than there was in Mâcon. Now I may be myself on a regular basis, and nobody goes to evaluate, snigger or remark.”

“The cherry on the cake can be discovering what I’ve by no means skilled – a loving, intimate relationship,” says Gisèle.

*Company have requested that solely their first names be printed.

Images by Juliette Treillet