LGBTQ Communities

SAGE Launches SAGEConnect to Combat Social Isolation for LGBT Elders

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SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT elders, has recently launched SAGEConnect, a program that matches LGBT elders with volunteer community members and allies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of our LGBT pioneers, the heightened need for social isolation has left them homebound with severely limited support networks. The one-to-one contact offered through SAGEConnect will help combat feelings of loneliness and disconnection during this unprecedented time of COVID-19, and ensure that elders are linked to resources if they are in need of help. ­

Because of the limited resources available to LGBT elders during this time, SAGE is utilizing its connection.... Read More

             

LGBTQ Older Adults and Shelter in Place

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by Dr. Marcy Adelman. This article originally appeared in the San Francisco Bay Times.

These are extraordinary times. It has only been since March 17 that Mayor Breed ordered San Francisco residents to shelter in place, to stay indoors, to slow the spread of infection from COVID-19. We are to remain in our homes and only go out to conduct essential activities such as to buy groceries or for a medically related need. It is not such a simple request to isolate ourselves when information about the virus’ progress and the evolving and sometimes confusing response of the federal government creates a collective feeling of dread and anxiety.

As the economy comes to a standstill, more and.... Read More

             

Managing the COVID-19 Crisis for Vulnerable Populations

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by Vivian Nava-Schellinger and Jenna McDavid. This article originally appeared on the National Council on Aging (NCOA) blog.

We want to hear how COVID-19 is impacting your community. Please take a moment to answer this short anonymous survey.

Last week, more than 1,600 older adults and professionals in aging attended our tele-town hall event. (Listen to the recording here.) It was a wonderful—and easily accessible—way to share valuable information from national and community partners working with us to and lessen feelings of uncertainty about.... Read More

             

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

             
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