Last updated: 08/02/2008
Gay OAP home a success

Europe’s first old people’s home for gay residents is a huge success.

The purpose-built, four-story facility in Berlin, which caters for 28 residents in luxury rooms, is fully booked.

The home for elderly homosexuals was first proposed in 1995 but plans were only drafted in 2001.

Money was raised through fund-raising events and the project was pushed ahead with the public backing of Berlin’s gay Mayor Klaus Wowereit.

The aim is to allow elderly gays to live in a facility where they do not need to worry about reactions to their sexual orientation.

Christian Hamm, a Berlin-based architect and nursing home board member who came up with the idea for the home, said: “When you’re old the last thing that you want to do is to have to hide.

“And you certainly don’t want to give up your identity and live in some hostile environment, possibly sharing a room with someone who despises you.”