Boomers to Resist Becoming Marginalized

Young people seem to be a much kinder, humanistic, global thinking group than old people. Maybe it’s because of contact with individuals from all over the globe on the internet. There seems to be more understanding and acceptance of the diversity of people. At least, that’s been my experience in my contact with younger folk in person and on social media.

We should be getting closer to becoming an accepting, inclusive society (here in Canada, but also globally) now that the big baby boom generation is learning that they and their friends suddenly belong to groups that they used to marginalize.

They are old, and they’re also becoming disabled as they age. Ageism and ableism should be acknowledged, as there will be more people in power who won’t accept those “isms”. The people who say “handicap” and mean a person are either dying off or learning that this kind of label shouldn’t be used limit them personally and it can be hurtful and harmful generally. Their kids and grandkids are inventing devices, systems, ways to keep these old and no longer perfectly independent boomers active and accepted.  People with a disability are much more than the parts of them that limit them.

Boomers are slowly learning that it’s not horrible to be gay and that their gender identity doesn’t have to be a life sentence, or an actual jail sentence. (And, now that we can talk about them, sexual orientation and gender identity are not the same.) I say slow because it was 1967 when Pierre Trudeau famously said “There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation”. Maybe a boomer (or a sibling) has had a late autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, with that epiphany of understanding (oh, that’s why!). They’re used to being in charge, those baby boomers, so they’re not going to let anyone hide them in the attic when they’ve been given a label from DSM-5-TR (the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). They’re going to demand accommodations for themselves, and with increasing understanding, they will extend the idea of accommodations to other marginalized groups. At least, that is my hope, that they will make big positive systemic changes while in power, before they die off. I can hope. If they don't, their children will.