Growing Movement For Gay Seniors

A front-page story in today's NY Times discusses the growing support movement for elderly LGBT Americans.

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.’”

Jalna Perry of Boston said her guard was always up in nursing homes. 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.”

There are an estimated 2.4 million elderly LGBT people in America, most of whom are forced back into the closet when they enter nursing care, living the last days of their lives in unimaginable loneliness. The Times article goes on to discuss the isolation and dangers that elderly gays face, but speaks optimistically about the gay-specific nursing home/assisted care facilities that are opening around the country. One of the programs mentioned was created by SAGE, Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders. Visit the SAGE site to learn more.