Equality Forum to include LGBT senior issues

From Philly.com: Weeklong Equality Forum to deal with problems of LGBT seniors
By Dianna Marder Inquirer Staff Writer You could dismiss it as just a broken ankle, but the injury brought reality into the home of Joel Sartorius. “That’s when I realized I could not age in place,” says Sartorius, 63, who lives in a charming but multi-staircased Center City townhouse. As a gay man, Sartorius and his partner of 33 years, Bob Melucci, 69, face thornier problems than most of the country’s swelling ranks of aging boomers. Barred from marrying in most states, the men are legally deprived of rights that straight couples rely on as they age, such as receiving spousal Social Security benefits, and the right to make medical and legal decisions for each other.

[SNIP] 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.) “There’s definitely an increased potential for mistreatment,” says Adams, who will moderate a National Seniors Panel at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Hamilton Hall, 320 S. Broad St. That issue and other discussions are at the heart of the 19th annual Equality Forum, which starts at 6 p.m. Monday with an invitation-only gathering and continues through Sunday with a range of free events, both serious and social, expected to draw 25,000 to 35,000 people. A panel Tuesday will look at issues facing transgender individuals; LGBT concerns in Latin America is Thursday’s focus; and panels on family, workplace, youth, politics, and the law fill out the week. Most events are free and open to all.

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