SENIORS
Report Shows Disparities Facing Queer Older Adults
SAGE, AARP provide outlook on economic and health realities for LGBTQ seniors
BY MATT TRACY
A new report published by Advocacy
& Services for LGBT Elders (SAGE)
and AARP is shedding light on disparities
impacting queer New Yorkers
50 years and older, including LGBTQ people
of color.
SAGE and AARP compiled data and outlined
plans of action to address the issues spelled out
in the report, which touches on economic and
health disparities, social issues, and other areas
of need for queer adults above the age of 50.
The report offers recommendations for leaders
as they confront these challenges and work to
improve the lives of queer seniors.
The report’s release was mostly met with
praise among elected offi cials, but there was
nonetheless concern that the report was formulated
without thoroughly consulting with local
organizations dedicated to LGBTQ seniors of
color.
On the health front, the report outlines intersecting
health and economic issues facing the
community: While the report notes that 23 percent
of queer New Yorkers lack suffi cient health
insurance coverage, nearly a third of people
living with HIV in New York are over the age
of 50, which further demonstrates the need for
a stronger emphasis on providing queer older
adults with the care they need regardless of
cost.
The report also cites data indicating that
Black older adults make up 41 percent of new
HIV diagnoses for folks 50 years or older, while
Hispanic older adults represent 19 percent.
Furthermore, 17 percent of queer New Yorkers
over the age of 50 are experiencing mental
distress, at least 13 percent are suffering from
depression, and 14 percent are reporting chronic
health issues, according to the report.
Some of the most profound disparities are evident
when evaluating poverty numbers. Queer
older adults are disproportionately burdened by
poverty, and it’s even worse for those over the
age of 80. The report revealed that 48 percent
of bisexual older women and transgender older
adults live at or below 200 percent of the federal
poverty line, while bisexual older men rank just
behind at 47 percent. Forty percent of LGBTQ
Hispanic and Black older adults also fall at or
below that poverty line.
A whopping 54 percent of trans older adults
are worried they will need to go into the closet
when seeking senior-based housing.
Such realities underscore the importance
of LGBTQ-inclusive housing options, such as
SAGE’s Stonewall House at 112 Edwards Street
in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn as well
REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON
Residents line up to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine on
January 22, 2021.
as a forthcoming LGBTQ-friendly housing development
in the Bronx.
SAGE and AARP hosted a virtual press conference
on January 28 during which the organizations
outlined their report and featured a
handful of local state lawmakers, including out
gay State Senators Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn
and Brad Hoylman of Manhattan, as well as
out gay Assemblymembers Harry Bronson of
Rochester and Daniel O’Donnell of Manhattan,
among others.
However, Griot Circle — a local organization
providing a range of services to LGBTQ seniors
of color — was not at the press conference, and
the group’s deputy director, Aundaray Guess,
expressed concern that the group was not
brought in to join the project.
“This report was created without the support
of other organizations who have the targeted
audiences of which this report is about.” Guess
told Gay City News in a phone interview. “You
don’t get a full picture of who and what people
are going through, their unique challenges, and
it also speaks to African-Americans, in general,
being left out of the process.”
Gay City News asked SAGE CEO Michael Adams
during the press conference which other
LGBTQ groups were included in the project. In
response, Adams said he “in particular would
lift up Griot Circle” and praised the group for
its work.
In an email to Gay City News on the afternoon
of January 28, Adams responded to Griot
Circle’s concerns.
“Disrupting Disparities is a project of AARP
and SAGE; there aren’t additional LGBT+ partners
for this report and this phase of the work,”
Adams said. “When I lifted up GRIOT Circle
earlier today, I noted that SAGE works closely
with GRIOT and numerous other organizations
and relied on their reports, needs assessments,
etc. to inform the report, which is based on
published research and data. We did not do informant
interviews for this report…”
He added, “Our intention is that today’s report
will catalyze additional needs assessment
work focusing on LGBT+ older adults of color
living at the intersections. Some of that work is
already in exploration and more will be developed,
and we look forward to the involvement
of many organizational partners from people of
color communities in that work.”
Lawmakers on hand at the press conference,
meanwhile, underscored the need for legislative
action and touted related efforts underway in
the State Legislature, such as Hoylman’s legislation
intended to designate LGBTQ older adults
and people living with HIV as populations with
greater social needs.
“LGBTQ older New Yorkers are sometimes
deemed to be invisible,” Hoylman said. “We
have incredible youth-oriented segments of the
population, but we need to reposition the lens
through which we view these issues. As we age,
LGBTQ New Yorkers run the risk of increased
isolation, disconnection from vital services,
and greater discrimination compared to non-
LGBTQ peers.”
Brisport, who is the fi rst out LGBTQ person
of color elected to the New York State Legislature,
invoked the housing issues facing queer
seniors and pointed to the Stonewall House as
a model example of how to provide relief to an
aging queer population.
The State Senate newcomer also addressed
the health disparities in the report and reminded
those at the presser that queer folks
are feeling the burden of government inaction
during yet another pandemic after already
being neglected throughout the HIV/AIDS
crisis.
“It’s really important to me knowing that LGBTQ
people, especially seniors, have navigated
a country that has been hostile to queer people
for decades. It’s important to me that they can
age in dignity.”
The recommendations outlined in the report
call for policymakers to double down on efforts
by the state’s Offi ce for the Aging to bolster inclusion
of queer older adults in outreach efforts,
cultural competency programs, services, and
other areas.
Tat Bellamy-Walker also contributed reporting
to this story.
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