Gray Panthers
The Gray Panthers are a series of multi-generational local advocacy networks in the United States which confront ageism and many other social justice issues. The organization was formed by Maggie Kuhn in response to her forced retirement from the Presbyterian Church at the age of 65 in 1970.
In addition to its initial response to the issue of forced retirement, Gray Panthers have challenged other ageist laws and stereotypes and engaged in anti-war activism, Medicare and Social Security preservation, inter-generational housing, LGBT rights advocacy, environmentalism, the fair treatment of people in nursing homes, and the promotion of single-payer health care.
Maggie Kuhn’s interest in older persons’ rights existed well before she founded the Gray Panthers in 1970. She was involved with the White House Conference on Aging in 1961, and appalled by the way people in some retirement homes were treated.
What really sparked her determination to form an activist organization was when she found herself a victim of the lack of rights for older persons in 1970, forced to retire from a job she loved in the Presbyterian Church. Instead of passively accepting retirement, Kuhn decided to band together with other people she knew who were also forced to retire. The lack of accepting the status quo would not just form the Gray Panther organization, but also the Gray Panther name--“It’s a fun name. There’s a certain militancy, rather than just a docile acceptance of what our country’s doing.”
When Kuhn formed the organization, her alliances were not just limited to other older persons facing a plight similar to her own. As indicated by the Gray Panthers’ slogan which endures to this day, “Age and Youth in Action,” she made it a priority to include people of all generations. Gray Panthers membership continues to be inclusive of people of diverse ages.
During this period, the main issues of the Gray Panthers included forced retirement, ageist stereotypes, cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and world peace.
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