Pride in Aging RI

Pride in Aging RI Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders.

Pride in Aging RI is an all-volunteer, 501 c 3 non-profit organization founded in 1995 that is dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ seniors achieve a high quality of life through education, advocacy, and social activities and services. In partnership with senior advocacy organizations, allies and our community, we support and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, foster a greater understanding of aging in all communities, and promote positive images of LGBTQ+ life in later years.

08/31/2026

The show that handed a generation of gay kids Willow and Tara was paid for by Dolly Parton and her openly gay manager, and neither of them put their name on it.

Parton, who died Tuesday at 80, founded Sandollar Productions in 1985 with Sandy Gallin, the manager who ran her career for decades and who married his partner Bryan Fox in 2014. In 1992 the company bought a strange little script from an unknown writer named Joss Whedon about a cheerleader who kills vampires. The film made 16.6 million dollars and sank. Sandollar backed the television version anyway. Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on The WB in 1997, ran seven seasons, and spun off Angel. Parton was a producer on all of it and her name never appeared in the credits.

She was not a silent partner either. Gail Berman, the Sandollar executive who pushed the movie into a series, told the New York Times that when Parton found out Berman's cut of the Buffy royalties was smaller than what the male producers were getting, Parton wrote her a personal check to close the gap.

Sandollar also made Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, the documentary about the AIDS Memorial Quilt narrated by Dustin Hoffman. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1990, at a moment when most of Nashville would not say the word out loud.

Sarah Michelle Gellar spent Tuesday posting a clip of Parton talking about the show on Watch What Happens Live in 2021. Buffy trended for hours. It took her dying for most people to find out who paid for Sunnydale.

08/30/2026

The Bodily Freedom Forever Index voting transparency tool is here: thewomxnproject.org/bodily-freedom-forever-index/

Using reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights as a metric, the Bodily Freedom Forever Index (BFFI) is a voting transparency guide on two major topics that impact everyone.
Our local elected officials hold a lot of power. They make decisions on our behalf by contributing to policies, budgets, and more. That’s why it’s critical we ensure those we elect will be empathetic, caring advocates for us and our communities.

Explore every person who ran for elected office in Rhode Island to find out who in your town, county or state believe in bodily freedom forever, and who do not.

The Womxn Project developed the BFFI at a time when bodily freedom was coming under more direct attack in America. At the same time, the UN had developed a comprehensive list of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

08/28/2026

Jason Pirro drove for and assisted Dolly Parton for more than 30 years, a working relationship that outlasted the 1990 tabloid story that tried to expose him.

That July, the supermarket tabloid Star ran a "s*x change shocker" about a trans man in Dolly's limo, using the deadnaming, exploitative language of the era. Pirro's own words in the piece were unbothered: "Dolly has been good to me... Dolly knows all about me."

Trans community publications quickly reclaimed the story. The XX Club, a Hartford support group, ran it in the August 1990 issue of its newsletter Twenty Minutes, and Lou Sullivan's pioneering FTM Newsletter preserved similar material as rare proof of a major star's acceptance at a time of almost no trans visibility. Sullivan died of AIDS-related complications in 1991.

Parton kept Pirro close long after. She thanked him by name in the liner notes of her 2016 album "Pure & Simple" and credited him in her 2023 book "Behind the Seams." In her 1994 memoir she wrote that if she hadn't been a woman she'd have been a drag queen, and that everything she knew "about s*x-change operations" she learned from her good friend Jason.

Parton died Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 80. In the days since, q***r and trans fans have circulated Pirro's story again as one more piece of a legacy she spent decades living out loud.

08/24/2026

Today we celebrate the birth of Marsha P. Johnson and honor her legacy! 💖

Marsha P. Johnson was a Black transgender woman and activist and was a central figure in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, which ignited the LGBTQ rights movement. Born in 1945 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Johnson moved to New York City’s Greenwich Village at age 17, where she found community among other LGBTQ individuals. Known for her vibrant personality, distinctive flower crowns, and colorful sense of style, Johnson became a beloved figure within the LGBTQ community and an enduring symbol of resistance against injustice.

Along with Sylvia Rivera, a Latina transgender activist, Johnson co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970, an organization dedicated to providing housing and support for homeless LGBTQ youth. STAR became one of the first LGBTQ organizations in the U.S. to focus specifically on transgender issues. It pioneered a legacy of advocacy for transgender and gender-nonconforming people who were often overlooked by mainstream gay rights organizations.

08/20/2026

27 years ago, Navy Veteran and trans rights activist Monica Helms created the original transgender flag. Today, we celebrate the anniversary of this symbol of pride and visibility as 🏳️‍⚧️

08/16/2026

Planning to vote from home? 🏠 You have exactly one week left to submit your mail ballot application for the Wednesday, September 9th primary. Apply online at http://vote.ri.gov/ or reach out to your local board of canvassers today!

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1665 Broad Street
Cranston, RI
02905

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