Wesley Adolphus Pinkney, 71, never imagined he might get to spend his golden years at an independent living community for LGBTQ+ seniors. At one point in time, he didn’t think he’d live past his 30s.

In 1986, a doctor diagnosed him with HIV and said he had two years left to live.

“It’s now been almost 40 years,” Pinkney says, “so anything after this is going to be heaven. To be in this place is like heaven to me.”

Pinkney recently applied for a spot at Mary’s House for Older Adults, a new 15-unit apartment building for LGBTQ+ seniors in southeast Washington, DC. He says decades ago, it was difficult to be accepted as a gay man — and that he had to “kick the doors down” to change the way society viewed his community. When he walked into Mary’s House for the first time, it felt like a homecoming. […]