Marriage and family equality, protection from employment discrimination, inclusion of our partners in immigration provisions, and help for gay, lesbian and trans youth are all important issues for the LGBT community, and all attract public attention in different ways. One sub-group in the queer community that has a distinctive set of problems that is not getting the attention it deserves, is the seniors, for whom aging brings problems that are not shared by either heterosexuals, or by younger queer men and women.
Whether they stay in their homes, move to retirement communities, seek out assisted living centers, or enter nursing homes, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals who faced hate and rejection all their lives now have to hope that the people paid to provide intimate care for them as they age are without prejudice.
“The issues are often the same as for many aging people: isolation, health, affordability of health care and housing,” says Mark-Allen Taylor, who hopes to age in place in his high-rise condo near Washington Square.
“Being LGBT,” Taylor says, “accentuates all the rest.”
Philly.com
Philly.com has a useful article describing some of the difficulties that people face as they get older, and some local initiatives to respond to the need:
Some solutions are on the horizon.
In Philadelphia, plans are under way for an LGBT-friendly affordable-housing facility - only the second of its kind in the nation - near the William Way Community Center at 1315 Spruce St.
And last week the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging announced the start of free training sessions aimed at creating a field of caregivers who are sensitive to and knowledgeable about the needs of LGBT elders.
Philly.com
The focus is local, but the problem is not. Wherever we are, our community organizations should be thinking seriously about this issue.
Still, the current population, the 1.5 million LGBT elders who came of age when homosexuality was classified as a crime as well as a serious mental illness, are more likely to be estranged from their families, childless, impoverished, in diminished health, and facing bias from the very social-service agencies charged with helping them, says Michael Adams, executive director of the Manhattan group Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE.)
Read the full article at Philly.com, including descriptions of some of the responses in Philly - and consider what might be suitable ways to support or promote suitable responses in your own area.
I’m surprised that you have not mentioned the Age UK project, Opening Doors project for older members of LGBT communities, operating in Camden, Hackney, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster (including Soho). A number of older members of the Soho Masses community are involved in the Older Men’s Group. There is a parallel service for older women.