Newsweek: 'Invisible And Overlooked’

[Contrary1]

Really good article. Check out the three short videos on the page if you get a chance.

A growing population of lesbian and gay senior citizens seeks recognition for their unique needs and challenges.

"Bob McCoy is a youthful, active 78-year-old. He sings in his church choir, takes a weekly computer class, and regularly attends social gatherings organized by a gay senior citizens group in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lives. But McCoy worries about a day when he can no longer care for himself: he has no close family, no partner, and he's outlived most of his friends. "I'm used to having friends I can call up and say, 'Let's go to ,'" he says. "But now there's nobody to call."

Newly engaged, Jim Fetterman, 62, and Ilde Gonzalez-Rivera, 56, look forward to growing old together at their home in Queens, N.Y., where they share a garden and a green Cadillac. But the couple isn't sure if or when they'll be able to marry. Their house is in Rivera's name, but because the couple can't legally wed in New York, Fetterman won't automatically inherit it, should his partner die. And even though they are registered domestic partners in New York City, neither man will have access to the other's Social Security, because the federal government doesn't recognize their relationship. "It's not something we like to think about, but there's a certain amount of anxiety that comes with not having those things," says Fetterman.

These are typical faces of the gay and aging—a growing population often overlooked by mainstream advocates. Gerontologists haven't traditionally viewed sexual orientation as relevant to their work—and, according to a study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, most national health surveys of elderly citizens fail to assess sexual orientation. But gay seniors confront unique challenges: they're twice as likely as straights to live alone, and 10 times less likely to have a caretaker should they fall ill. Older gay men are at high risk for HIV, and many suffer the psychological effects of losing friends to the AIDS crisis. (See our report on HIV and aging.) Many face discrimination in medical and social services, and on top of it all, they're less likely to have health insurance: one survey, by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law, at UCLA, estimates that gay seniors are half as likely to have coverage as their straight counterparts.

"In many ways, this population is a mirror opposite of what the mainstream aging community looks like," says Karen Taylor, director of advocacy and training for the New York-based Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Elders, or SAGE, the nation's oldest senior network. "The average senior in the United States lives with one other person; two-thirds of LGBT seniors live alone. If you don't have those informal support networks built into your life, then everything else becomes a bigger issue. Who forces you to go to the doctor? What happens if you fall?"

More: http://www.newsweek.com/id/159509

[GodlessBiker]

1. The one couple should get married in Canada, CA, or MA and NY will recognize their marriage.

"Older gay men are at high risk for HIV"? Huh? Are they going around having unprotected sex?

[Fearless]

2. Actually yes that is the trend...

But not especially amongst the gay community. Rather it's usually men and women who don't need protection to not have kids who don't realize that they need it to not spread STDs. It's one of the groups with the highest increase in new STD infections.

[keepCAblue]

3. But the FEDS won't...

so it won't help in terms Social Security or any other program that is federally funded. Hell, a gay couple legally married in CA, MA or elsewhere can't even file bankruptcy together, because that too is governed by the feds.

[Lost River Ledger]

4. Just for the record.....

I recently joined AARP and they asked if I had a domestic partner. When they got the answer that it was a same sex partner and not old enough to join, it didn't matter a flip. I am able to extend my AARP benefits to him and all our mail and emails come addressed to both of us.