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/ Generation Q; Report looks at issues facing GLBT elders by David Elliot Special to Q-Notes WASHINGTON, DC — A newly released study, Outing Age: Public Policy Issues Facing Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Elders, is believed to be the first comprehensive report to address public policy issues facing liiillions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) seniors in the United States. The re port was released at the anntial Creating Change Conference last month in Atlanta, sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Tisk Force (NCLTF). Estimated to range from one to three mil lion seniors, the GLBT senior population is growing, and an even larger wave of openly GLBT people will enter aging .service programs over the next 30 years. Yet, as Outing Age notes, no government-sponsored research on aging in cludes sexual orientation or gender identity vari ables. The lack of data results in policy and prac tices that ignore the unique realities and needs of old GLBT people. “While we know a lot about the basic de- niographics of people 65 and older in this coun try, there is next to no information about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendcr elders,” said Sean Cahill, report co-author and research di rector of the NGLTF Policy Institute. “This report brings together what research has been ptiblished to date, but more importantly lays out a much-needed agenda for the future." outlines the major public policy frameworks that address the needs of GLBT seniors and shows the ways in which they ex clude GLBT lives. The report reveals that sev eral federal programs that aim to .serve seniors blatantly exclude or otherwise discriminate against GLBT elders. For example, Social Security pays survivor benefits to widows and widowers but not to surviving spou.sc's of same-sex life partners. This may cost GLBT elders SlZ'l million a year in Irenefits. Medicaid regulations protect the as sets and homes of married spou.ses but oiler no such protection to .same-sex partners, lax laws and other 401 (k) and pensions di.scriminate against same-sex partners, costing the surviv- ■ if dor s > klUj' I olubll Jl 11)11 'Ik U.l U HI jH.ii- !* 4 t f 1^! i ' H' lu J ^ Scolt I PAW II iK: I I 1 '• 11 \ 111 s 1. 1! ,il 1) 11 ( . IliMi., lU ; ..I • l.!, : •|M f>f,i report also calls for increases in funding for those programs providing targeted services to GLBT ciders. Findings in the report demonstrate that GLBT elders may be more likely to face pov erty and economic insectirity while simulta neously facing tiniqtic obstacles to basic health care and .social .services. In 1992, one in four elders living alone or not living with relatives was poor. Since many studies indicate that GLBT .seniors are more likely to live alone and lack legally recognized family support networks, GLBT seniors may experience poverty at higher rates than hetcro.sextial .seniors. This situation is particularly striking when one takes intoconsideration that, even with full accc.ss to benefits, 11 percent of all elders live below the poverty level and another six percent are cla.ssified as near poor. Additionally, sttidies of GLBT people have shown high ntimbers of uninstircd, and note that .sexual orientation or gender identity creates additional barriers to accessing healthcare .services. Outing Age w\\\ be distributed to key aging and GLBT policy makers and advocates at the local, state atid national level, as well as to ma jor media atid comnuinity ba.sed activists acro.ss the country. The report proposes specific rec- otnmendations for public policy advocates on how to itnprove the lives of GLBT elders. The report was the proditct of NGLTF’s Aging Initiative, which was launched in 1999 and is .staffed by Ken South. Noted South, “This report not only provides a carefully documented analysis of the i.ssties, btit its writing was a ma jor collaborative effort involving dozens of... le.sbians and gay men, policy experts, and ger ontologists as well as commtmity-based GLBT elder organi/jtions." Close cotistiltation and detailed input were received from aging activists around the coun try, especially leading organiz-itions like Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE), Old Le.sbians Organizing lor Change aiul Pride Se nior Network. f he re[H)rt can be downloaded for free frotn the NCLTF website, www.ngltl.org. I laid cop ies can alst) be ordered online. ▼ mg partner tens ol thousands of dollars a year, and possibly over $ 1 million during the course a lifetime. In addition, 0/rfr«^/lje (xhnts out the ex istence of bias in the provision ol services to glut seniors. I lomopliobia in the nursing homes, health care settings and among provid- ’ iij ers caring for the elderly lias iK-en (hK'umcnied by studies cited in the icihhi. hit example, in dll nne study neatly hall ol the sutveyed agencies, '*'hicli distiilnite fedeial luiuling lot scinoi sc-i ^ices, ir(XMicd that gas s and lesliians would not Ik- Welcome at 'cnior ccnieis il then u-xiial on eniaiioii wvie kiiossn. In aiioihci sniscy. |*eiccnt ol musing luime si all ie(Hiiicd iiiiolei »ni Ol coiKic inning aniiitd) > toss aid liomowxu- *lii\ among icsideiiis .Mejiivshile niil'iog IsoiiK sod tuofiilal irgti lai iiiiu can c Ic ate I la I nets io same s. c j iiliw is I C .cl Jl Kill Ilf Ills t . ,c M ))1 11 anIIIII' and • 1. i ■!' s.K IK . . m ' 1«' i-Us > Jiiit '•S i.'i ii I ;i D H x 41f s is i » , c X , . . \ Carolina Funeral Services & Cremation Center Serving the Community with Dignity, Simplicity Attordabilitv V . I'll fax' . ! 1 ' h U X G- . iH'J Mum • 11 r \ i ■ ^ * \. 4 . V ^ Q-Notes ▼ December 9, 2000 ▼ PAGE 17 Are yo gettin what you want from life? ■p- 4^, 458-0433 [‘griffin@insideinterest.com FEE IS $100 PER HOUR; MAY BE COVERED BY YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE conflicted.. .unmotivated.. .out-of-control.. .scared 520 8TH. RV€. N. MVRTL6 B€RCH, S.C. 843-448-1180 CRUIS6 PLRVPOOL DRNC6 OP€N DfillV AT 5 PM RDfl COCHTRILS Hiij )py Houf S 8 • No Cover Til 9 PM Privotc Club. Coll utuioJ for urrooqcinhims Calendar MONDAYS raDAYS&SA'njRDAYS Krt.. Ikvcmbcr 8 IVmalr Imirrsojutiun Shi'vv at l.rNhr |-.u£L 1: 1ri n Fh.. Drcrmbcr 15 ' ♦ • Saturday. Dccrtnber AO AIDS Walk 2000 licnrfll Stu^k* Koniokf' Sundays A Tufjk^yi > i liu Kih Ih.nvm;;* : ,e,. iLi! 'ft Wfrftjru ‘oi’ Hluk Out rndfrakriif bony Evrry Kvrr\‘ loJHi a i • a : r-t* tm CXi^l
Q-notes (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 9, 2000, edition 1
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