LGBTQ Communities

The Best Cities for LGBTQ Retirees

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by Dave Hughes. This article originally appeared on Next Avenue.

(It seems like every few weeks or so, someone publishes a new list of The Best Places to Retire. Dave Hughes’ new book, The Quest for Retirement Utopia, will help you clarify which criteria are most important to you in deciding where to retire and provide resources to help find the spot that’s right for you. In a special section for LGBTQ people, Hughes has compiled The Best U.S. Cities for LGBTQ Retirees, which includes some places that may surprise you. Hughes, a Read More

             

SAGE Celebrates Major Victory in Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act

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This release originally appeared on the SAGE website on March 26, 2020.

[New York, NY] Today, the Older Americans Act reauthorization was signed into law with provisions that will help ensure that LGBT elders get the services and support they need to remain independent. SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people, has spent years working with our allies in Congress, the LGBT community, and the aging sector to push for this inclusion and celebrates this victory for the LGBT community. This legislation is especially timely given the sobering risks LGBT elders face during the current COVID-19 pandemic and their heightened need for inclusive services and care.

The.... Read More

             

Hidden and Buried and Locked

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by Cynthia McCormick. This article originally appeared in the Cape Cod Times.

When Cape snowbird Marie Seufert tells people in her Florida retirement community that she’s a widow, they sometimes ask when her husband died.

“I say, ’No, it was my wife,” said Seufert, 71, who lost Mary Sidlevicz, her spouse of nearly nine years, on Jan. 5, 2017.

“There were people in Florida who kept referring to her as my ‘friend.’ I kept correcting them. It was my No. 1 relationship,” Seufert said.

“I have to come out to people whether I want to or not. I’d rather just play golf,” Seufert said during a phone interview.

Support Group “A Relief”

Seufert said it was.... Read More

             

‘We Weren’t Expected to Live This Long’

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by Grace Birnstengel. This article originally appeared on Next Avenue.

(Editor’s note: This story is part of Still Here, Still Positive: A series on the first generation of Americans aging with HIV/AIDS, with support from The John A. Hartford Foundation.)

More than 500,000 people over 50 in the U.S. are growing older with the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) that, if untreated, cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS.

While some have contracted HIV/AIDS in their later years (sparse sexual health promotion for older adults is often to blame), the bulk of these survivors were diagnosed decades ago, back in the throes of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, when.... Read More

             

LGBTQ Bereaved Spouses Seek Solace

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by Kevyn Burger. This article originally appeared on Next Avenue.

After surviving a heart attack and a cancer diagnosis, Carol Riddell feared being kept alive by machines more than she feared death itself. The retired teacher had made her end-of-life wishes clear to her wife Debbie Joffe: no extraordinary measures.

Two years ago, hospitalized after a complicated surgery, Riddell had to be intubated. Her blood pressure dropped and her kidneys began to fail.

“Her system was tanking. Her sister and I were there and we knew she couldn’t come back from this,” said Joffe, 64, who lives in Cincinnati, and had been Riddell’s partner for 30 years and her wife for four.

“I got into bed.... Read More

             

The Voices of the Silenced

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by SAGE Communications. This article originally appeared on the SAGE blog.

When asked to think of the predominant challenges facing people as they age today, the common answers may be physical mobility and accessibility, savings and wealth management, or finding safe, affordable housing. These challenges are increased for LGBT older people, who may face maltreatment due to their sexual orientation or live in fear of discrimination. However, due to incredible advancements in medicine and science, many of the Stonewall generation are now experiencing a far less talked about challenge: aging with HIV.

In the late 90’s at the height of the AIDS epidemic, it was inconceivable to imagine that individuals who were diagnosed would live to.... Read More

             

Counting LGBT Communities: SAGE and the 2020 Census

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by SAGE Communications

SAGE joins our partners at the Diverse Elders Coalition in encouraging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older people to complete the 2020 Census. The Census is our once-in-a-decade opportunity for government, researchers, and advocates to gather national data on the U.S. population and allocate resources accordingly.

Why don’t we know how many LGBT people live in the United States?

Unfortunately, there is little to no information about LGBT identities collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. No previous U.S. Census has included questions about sexual orientation or gender identity, which makes it challenging to accurately track the size, demographics and needs of our communities. The more detailed American Community.... Read More

             

What we owe to one another

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by SAGE Communications

In Fall 2019, the SAGE team jetted to Los Angeles and Miami to produce our national LGBT Speed Mentoring program. Just like ‘speed dating,’ a speed mentoring includes facilitated one-on-one conversations and time to mingle. Cue cards prompt conversations about participants’ current projects, goals, and skills in a fun atmosphere with peppy music and tasty food and drinks.

Within two hours, some are exchanging Instagram handles, and others are asking “can you teach me Instagram?” And this is exactly the crux of mentorship: building and maintaining a relationship based on.... Read More

             

LGBTQ+ Chosen Family: Priceless!

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Can you imagine not having access to your loved one enduring a lengthy hospital stay?
Can you imagine being strategically left out of the end of life decisions for your partner or significant other?
Do you have the legal standing necessary to handle your partner or chosen family member’s affairs?

A family of choice is a phrase used with pride to describe the close-knit relationships and adopted kin networks for LGBTQ+ populations. The presence of a secure and functional support network is one of the most vital components of healthy adjustments and optimal functioning for LGBTQ+ aging populations (SAGE, 2014).

Our nation’s population is aging, with the baby boomers entering retirement and adjusting to empty nests and finding new.... Read More

             
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