OpEd
We’re at a critical point in LGBTQ+ history. After decades of fighting for acceptance and basic rights, and surviving the HIV/AIDS epidemic, LGBTQ+ elders are aging at a time when their rights and well-being are yet again at risk. We must ensure we don’t go backwards while fighting for the generations that will follow us.
Some say, “aging is the great equalizer.” LGBTQ+ people, however, face challenges unique from their non-LGBTQ+ peers. Many have experienced systemic discrimination throughout their lives and are now facing ageism as anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric ramps up, becoming more explicit and pervasive.
This isn’t an issue experienced by just a few. It is estimated that by 2030 there will be approximately 7 million LGBTQ+ older people in the United States who are ages 50 and older. We are all aging, and we all deserve basic economic security, access to affordable and timely healthcare, housing and other supports to meet our needs.
Thinking about aging can be humbling, but there are ways we can help all Americans age with security and resilience. As the leaders of Justice in Aging and SAGE, two organizations that advocate on behalf of and serve LGBTQ+ older adults, we believe advocates and service providers can play key roles in pushing for fairer policies and supporting LGBTQ+ members in our communities as we age.
Healthcare and Long-Term Care
Like many older people, LGBTQ+ older adults rely on Medicare and Medicaid to address their health and long-term care needs. Unfortunately, many face barriers rooted in affordability and inadequate qualifying work history (often fueled by the job discrimination many LGBTQ+ people experience throughout their lives). Even with access to these programs, LGBTQ+ older adults face discrimination from doctors, hospitals and other care providers.
Older LGBTQ+ people may not know if they can trust their home-care provider, or they may not feel comfortable or safe coming out in a nursing facility or other institutional setting because of potential mistreatment and discrimination. Given the relentless attacks on the transgender community by the current administration, many trans and non-binary older adults worry about losing access to gender-affirming care. According to AARP, 58% of trans and nonbinary older adults worry about having to hide their identity to access senior housing (or avoid housing discrimination).
“Living in a rural area is hard as you age. Healthcare is 1.5 hours away (if you can even find a doctor), there is no public transportation at all, no senior housing nearby. The few age-related services (i.e., senior centers) are not gay friendly. There are no funds to support a gay program for the elderly.”
Economic Security
Throughout their lives, LGBTQ+ people experience hiring bias and workplace discrimination at much higher rates than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. For many, this results in lower retirement savings and inadequate Social Security benefits. Until 2015, when the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, which required states to recognize same-sex marriage, married LGBTQ+ people did not have the same path to economic security as other married couples. Even that decision can no longer be taken for granted, with anti-LGBTQ+ groups strategizing ways to undo the Court’s holding.
With the recent government shutdown impacting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), many LGBTQ+ people face increased food insecurity. A report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that 15% of LGBTQ+ adults, about 2.1 million people—including 250,000 people who identify as transgender—relied on SNAP in the past year. In comparison, only 11% of non-LGBTQ+ adults did.
Housing
Low-income older adults across the country face housing costs that are increasing at rates much higher than their fixed incomes. Again, LGBTQ+ people have been disproportionately impacted due to job discrimination that leads to higher rates of poverty and inadequate retirement savings, coupled with housing discrimination.
Only 50% of LGBTQ+ individuals are homeowners, compared to 70% of non LGTBQ+ people, so they are more reliant upon rental housing. At the same time, LGBTQ+ individuals report discrimination in obtaining rental housing. Thirty-four percent of LGBTQ+ people fear they will have to hide their identity when seeking senior housing.
Those fears are not unfounded; in one study, 48% of older same sex couples reported housing discrimination when seeking elder housing. Unfortunately, there remains only a patchwork of state laws that explicitly outlaw housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, and the current administration has already taken steps to undo such federal housing protections.
“[I’m] worried how policy will impact my ability to find an assisted living place. [I] worry, too, about the idea of having to completely hide who I am in public, on social media, with police, and [in] VA care.”
Building a Better World for LGBTQ+ Older Adults
In addition to speaking out against and working to stop cuts to the programs that serve all low-income older adults, legal organizations like Justice in Aging can use the power of law to enforce civil rights for LGBTQ+ people. SAGE is proud to offer SAGECare, a service that delivers LGBTQ+ aging and person-centered care training to help professionals in senior living, healthcare, and related fields to create safer, more inclusive environments for older adults. The right of LGBTQ+ older adults to age with dignity and free from discrimination was recently upheld by the California Supreme Court in a case challenging a state law requiring staff at long-term care facilities to use a resident’s proper pronouns.
Now is the time to lean into outreach and services that are affirming and grounded in cultural humility, honoring and supporting the LGBTQ+ older adults across the country who fought so hard and lived through so much. See our organizations’ jointly published issue brief, Supporting LGBTQ+ Older Adults’ Basic Needs, for more information on how programs and services allow LGBTQ+ older adults to thrive and how to continue this work in the current environment.
Everyone has a role to play in speaking up for the needs and rights of LGBTQ+ people in our communities and families. We can’t go back, and, with your help, we won’t.
Note: Pullquotes are from the Supporting LGBTQ+ Older Adults’ Basic Needs brief.
Lynn Faria is CEO of SAGE. Kevin Prindiville is Executive Director of Justice in Aging.
Photo credit: Shutterstock/CREATISTA
