LGBT seniors’ experiences compounded by discrimination

There’s an excellent article in the Rochester City Newspaper about lgbt seniors and the variety of experiences we can face as we age, from meaningful moments of acceptance, to discrimination past and present. We all get old if we’re lucky, but being old and lgbt can have unique challenges – something that’s thankfully coming more to the surface of our cultural consciousness. From the City Newspaper: The Gay Golden Years

When Bud, an elderly gay man who lives in a Rochester-area residential community for seniors, posted news clippings outside his door regarding same-sex marriage, the reaction he got from other residents was not overwhelmingly positive. “Some of the pictures were taken down,” he says. “Once someone pinned note paper covering over a picture.” It was a little intimidating, Bud says. It’s also an example of a culture that can be deeply entrenched in some traditional nursing and assisted-living homes: prejudice that can have a profound emotional impact on elderly members of the LGBT community. Though Bud, who recently celebrated his 84th birthday, is out, he’s still cautious. He lives alone and he asked that his last name not be printed. “I’ve always been me,” he says. “But I’ve been careful not to out myself to the wrong people.” Bud is certainly not the first gay man to move into a senior-living community. But he is part of a population of seniors that is gradually becoming more visible both nationally and locally. Gay culture is sometimes criticized for its exaggerated emphasis on youth, but there is growing awareness about older members of the LGBT community – people who have reached their mid-60’s, and are living into their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. What do we know about them? What are their concerns? Are senior-living communities and nursing homes becoming more accepting of their gay clients? And how do they treat gay couples? Continue reading]]>