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Betty-with-golf-cart.jpg

Betty grew up in South St. Louis with memories of riding her motorbike through city alleys at age 15.  She then joined a male biker club for many years.  

She has had a myriad of jobs & careers throughout her 85 years.     She’s flipped burgers, picked fruit, worked retail & was a hard worker but at times was

discriminated against due to being too masculine.  Betty sold real estate  when the market crashed & bounced back from financial losses in the 1980s by reaching

out to connections in her life for help & started a 10-year cleaning business employing
all gay women.  She retired in her early 60s due to a health disability but continues

to find purpose in her life  through her advocacy work in the LGBTQ

community, where she is considered an icon.   Betty spent many years on Team St. Louis in the International Gay Games to promote inclusion.  She has been with her partner for 32 years & spends her days building & painting  benches for her friends.

 

 

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“I never came out because I was never in . . . My family, with the exception of my father, just didn’t care.I was just Betty. . . .My family has always been with me.  I think gay people who grow up with that kind ofsupport  do better in life . . . My suggestion for aging well is to have younger friends becausethey keep you trying to keep up with them & acting younger . . .  Making rainbow benches gives mesomething to do every morning & gives me something to look forward to.”

Videos of Betty Below:
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