It’s been almost a decade in the making — Montreal inaugurated its first home for lesbians 55 and over, and the first tenants started moving in.
Alexandra Henriques signed her lease to join the Maison RebElles on Thursday, coming all the way from Quebec City. She’s occupying one of the 22 rooms available at the home in the St-Henri neighbourhood.
“The description, I already thought this is the kind of place I’m looking for and it’s perfect, just lesbians,” said Henriques.
Isabelle Duclaud, the treasurer for the Maison RebElles, has been working on the project since its inception.
“It’s an old dream for many of us,” she said.
A 2017 study by Egale showed that the fear of being pushed back into the closet was the number one issue for LGBTQ seniors.
Henriques is familiar with the issue. She spent years working in the seniors’ wing of an LGBTQ2S+ organization …