LGBTQ Seniors Hit by Lockdown Isolation 'Triple Whammy' Are Fighting Back

[Mike 03]

DAILY BEAST
Updated May. 05, 2020 8:19 AM ET

Excerpt:

Isolation is particularly acute for LGBTQ seniors, Adams said. “They are four times less likely to be parents than older Americans in general. Whereas most older Americans have adult children, they do not. They are twice as likely to grow old living alone without partners or spouses than older Americans in general. Because of discrimination and bias, LGBTQ elders are more likely to be disassociated from their families of origin than older Americans in general.”

“The traditional family structure is missing for many of our folks,” Adams said. “When folks are younger in the LGBTQ community, they deal with that by forming ‘families of choice.’ But there’s a limitation to that when you’re 75, 80, 90, and it’s harder to form such support networks.”

LGBTQ seniors may not feel safe where they reside in private or public housing, or within the residential care system. Adams said some “go back into the closet” in fear of homophobia and mistreatment by neighbors or nursing staff. “You can understand why,” said Adams. “There is a lot of discrimination still going on.”

Even in progressive urban centers like New York City, Adams said, LGBTQ seniors may go to a senior center to build new relationships but experience homophobia from other seniors. “At SAGE, they are embraced for who they are,” he added.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/lgbtq-seniors-hit-by-coronavirus-lockdown-isolation-triple-whammy-are-fighting-back

[SWBTATTReg]

1. The bigotry is why gay seniors depend on each other/care for each other, even if not life...

partners. And I don't want to blame bigotry 100% either, it's just that the community has supported and lived by itself for so many years w/o help while being its own form of self isolation, that reaching out for help is by seniors is avoided/reluctant for gay seniors to ask for. An extreme in-the-closet paranoia that still exists among many in the gay community.

Many within the gay community do check in on gay seniors on a regular basis (call, visit, etc.), as well as arrange other needed services if needed, such as help w/ setting up their home computers, getting rides to/from their homes, etc. Picking them to/from appointments, run errands, etc., in some areas this is 'organized' and other areas, it's not.

It is good for a service like SAGE, to exist, and perhaps something to shoot for, but the population in NYC can support such an organization. Can SAGE exist elsewhere? Probably why so many gay seniors move away when they can, for this very reason, to obtain more and better services elsewhere (like a lot of demographics do, move away as soon as they can).