Box Turtle Bulletin

Box Turtle BulletinNews, analysis and fact-checking of anti-gay rhetoric
“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
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Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network (LGAIN): A project of the American Society on Aging, LGAIN works to raise awareness about the concerns of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) elders and about the unique barriers they encounter in gaining access to housing, healthcare, long-term care and other needed services.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Policy Institute: The NGLTF’ Policy Institute provides information on the issues facing (GLBTQ) seniors.

SAGE: SAGE is a social service organization serving the unique needs of the senior gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, providing high quality programs and services in an intergenerational environment. SAGE also works to foster a greater understanding of aging, to promoting positive images of life in the later years, and to advocate for the rights of senior gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in both the gay and straight communities.

Posts about Aging

NY Times: “Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight”

Jim Burroway

October 9th, 2007

Bruce Steiner, 76, left, helped feed his partner, Jim Anthony, 71, who has Alzheimer’s diseaseThe New York Times has an impressive article about the pressures elderly gays and lesbians feel to go back into the closet during their final years. The opening paragraphs tell a common story:

Even now, at 81 and with her memory beginning to fade, Gloria Donadello recalls her painful brush with bigotry at an assisted-living center in Santa Fe, N.M. Sitting with those she considered friends, “people were laughing and making certain kinds of comments, and I told them, ‘Please don’t do that, because I’m gay.’”

The result of her outspokenness, Ms. Donadello said, was swift and merciless. “Everyone looked horrified,” she said. No longer included in conversation or welcome at meals, she plunged into depression. Medication did not help. With her emotional health deteriorating, Ms. Donadello moved into an adult community nearby that caters to gay men and lesbians.

“I felt like I was a pariah,” she said, settled in her new home. “For me, it was a choice between life and death.”

Baby boomers in general are taking a hard look at late-life options for when their own health begins to fail, and many boomers aren’t too happy with the options they see. Gays and lesbians are no different. Fortunately there are new options for elderly gays and lesbians opening up in a few cities across America. And the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is beginning to consult with general-population nursing homes on the special needs that gays and lesbians face.

See also:

Straights Invade Gay Retirement