Brody's Notes... LGBT Elders-Not So Golden Years

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) May 4 | New York City based 'In The Life' media, at the end of last month, released the documentary 'Aging In A Safe Environment' chronicling the immediate need for safe housing and care for the rapidly growing population of America's LGBT elders. This documentary film  examines the  plight of LGBT elders facing the lack of LGBT specific protections that can drive those pioneers back into the closet when entering long-term care facilities. Disturbed by this trend, some activists and visionaries have taken matters into their own hands by creating safe spaces for the elders. 

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stated in a recent report, that the United States is facing an impending and tremendous challenge as baby boomers start aging into their senior years. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT), individuals are confronted with additional issues due to widespread homophobia, transphobia, racial injustice and economic inequity. Currently there are an estimated 3 million LGBT elders in the United States. By 2030, that number will nearly double.

Compounding the challenges in addressing these issues is a critical lack of research about LGBT seniors. In addition, older LGBT people increasingly face the unknown dimensions of aging with HIV/AIDS as the first generation of survivors to navigate the impact of HIV on aging.

LGBT people face a number of particular challenges as they age. They often do not have access to adequate health care, affordable housing and other social services that they need due to institutionalized heterosexism and transphobia. Mainstream senior providers have limited information or training in how to appropriately work with and serve our diverse communities. Existing regulations and proposed policy changes in programs like Social Security or Medicare, which impact millions of LGBT elders, are discussed without our views and interests as part of the debate.

"LGBT elders remain a highly vulnerable and largely invisible aging population," said Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey. "We know that invisibility leads to greater social isolation, which can lead to increased vulnerability in many areas. We also know that discrimination across the lifespan leaves LGBT people economically and socially vulnerable as they age."

Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Centre for Lesbian Rights, (NCLR) notes that;

"Transgender elders in particular face unique and often extreme forms of discrimination. They are denied medical care, excluded from housing and social services, and despised simply for being who they are."

In 1999, NCLR was the first LGBT legal organization to launch a permanent Elder Law Project as the first wave of baby boomers became senior citizens. The Elder Law Project advocates for policies and legislation to protect the medical and financial rights of LGBT elders, and educates the professionals (health care providers, lawyers, case workers) who are charged with assisting them.
NCLR’s Elder Law Project collaborates with legal experts to identify where the law falls short for LGBT seniors, attends important national events on aging policy, and further works to advocate for and remedy the legal landscape for LGBT seniors.
Ms Kendall also said:

"The vulnerabilities faced by the elderly in our society know no gender, race, class, or sexual orientation. But when our relationships and lives are not fully understood, embraced and protected by the larger culture and by common experience, those universal vulnerabilities grow exponentially."

The Center for American Progress just released a comprehensive report, 'Out of the Shadows: Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults,' which outlines the unique circumstances that make successful aging more difficult for LGBT elders than for their heterosexual counterparts.