You want to provide understanding when they walk in the door.” 4. He knows firsthand what a welcoming environment can do for an LGBT person. Huyett worked at the LGBT-focused Callen Lorde Clinic in New York City and now is the director of health services at Landmark College in Putney, Vt. “It impacts your eating, your drinking habits, your blood pressure, to name a few.” “Statistically we are at higher risk, and deal with consequences of living with stigma, the violence of being LGBT in this culture,” says Jeff Huyett, who has worked as a nurse, nurse practitioner and activist since 1983. We must push federal, state and local governments to include sexual orientation and gender identity protections in existing housing laws, and for senior housing providers to adopt antidiscrimination policies ( SAGE offers a map of LGBT-friendly housing resources).ģ. “What’s that going to be like? To go into a wonderful place like this and then have to go back in the closet because we don’t have assisted living here?” That concerns Mark Masaracchia, property manager at Town Hall. A 2011 survey found that just 22 percent of LGBT aging adults felt they could be open about their sexual identity in a nursing home or assisted living facility. The sad truth is many LGBT elders go back in the closet when they enter senior facilities. The message is clear: LGBT elders have a right to be included in affordable housing and subsidized senior programs. “If I had not been able to live here, I literally would be homeless,” he says.
Three years ago, after his mother died, Bell moved into Town Hall. Many rely on meal programs.”ĭon Bell grew up in an African American subdivision of Chicago and became the prime caregiver for his ailing parents, which ate through his savings. “There’s a myth that LGBT all have money,” says Karyn Skultety. Town Hall residents, Ted Swanson and Don Hill. I talked to activists, experts and LGBT seniors to discover what challenges our community faces, and what the solutions may look like. How can we be sure to live happily when we grow older? It’s something my friends and I talk about all the time. According to a study by SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLTB Elders) there are at least 3 million LGBT people over 55 in the USA that number will double in 20 years.Ĭan you feel it? The rumblings of a major gay senior explosion are happening. That means a lot more of us gay people are aging. A huge cultural shift in sexual acceptance (and self acceptance) has brought more out and proud gays, lesbians and trans people than ever before. And my generation (men in our 40s and 50s) are the largest demographic of openly gay men to grow old.Īnd that’s just the men. Over 800,000 gay men older than me died during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Daddy is popular because there are more of us. Younger guys say it all the time to us gay men over the age of 40.
I am called Daddy a lot these days, but not because I am one.