LGBT seniors cite housing as one of their top-five concerns as they age. Safe, affordable and LGBT-friendly housing is scarce in many areas around the country. Some LGBT elders live in situations where they are harassed because of the music they play in their homes, the way their visitors look or sound or the pictures of friends and loved ones they display on their desks or nightstands.
Depending on the facility in which they live, some seniors are not permitted to wear the style of clothing they prefer or the hairstyle of their choice. Others are not permitted to have sex with, sleep with or show outward signs of affection for their same-sex partners. A hostile living environment is a health and safety risk. We face enough of those without having to deal with them in our home sanctuaries in our older years.
Progress toward assuring the availability of affordable, safe and welcoming housing is being made on several fronts. The LGBT Elder Initiative has released the inaugural version of its LGBTEI Senior Housing Resource Guide for the Delaware Valley. This guide lists housing resources across a broad range of affordability and types of housing, from subsidized housing to nursing homes to continuing-care communities to condominiums and rental units. All are LGBT-senior friendly.
In Center City, a government-subsidized, LGBT-friendly, low-income housing project for seniors is under development. Spearheaded by the DMH Fund, the 50-plus-unit building will be the first of its kind in the nation. It is a great start to providing housing solutions for LGBT people as we age.
Nationally, there are several types of LGBT-senior-housing options available. Most recent is the approval of a low-income LGBT-senior-housing project in San Francisco. Triangle Square in Los Angeles, an affordable housing community, has been up and running since 2007.
These and other communities already in existence can only begin the process of developing solutions for the needs of the LGBT communities for appropriate housing as we age. Homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism and the law are often barriers for LGBT elders seeking adequate housing. The demand for elder housing has only just begun to surge. The next two decades of baby boomers reaching retirement age will further tax housing resources for seniors. This demographic shift, along with the reverberations from the housing-market collapse, will strain affordable, safe and LGBT-friendly housing resources in most areas, especially for LGBT people of color.
New models for how and where we age are being developed. Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities may be one model. A NORC is formed by people who already live in a building or neighborhood and find that they have similar needs and share similar interests and/or backgrounds. People in a NORC develop and share resources they need in order to age successfully in their own homes.
Another potential model for successful aging may come from within LGBT families of choice. These families may choose to reside together, to share resources and expenses and to care for each other as best they can during their elder years.
There are many changes occurring in where and how we live as we age. However, the law and society change slowly. There is still no national nondiscrimination law giving LGBT people of all ages equal access to housing. The federal government has taken some steps to reduce discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Twenty-two states, including New Jersey, ban such discrimination. Delaware bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. Pennsylvania, however, still allows housing discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The LGBT Elder Initiative’s Senior Housing Resource Guide lists many LGBT-senior-friendly housing resources. There is also a list of resources you can access if you feel you have been discriminated against in your current housing or in your search for housing. The guide can be found at www.LGBTEI.org under the “Housing” tab. You can add to this list. Your additions and comments, both positive and negative, are welcome and can be helpful to other people seeking affordable, safe and welcoming housing. Add your comments directly to the web page or send your recommended listings or comments to [email protected] or call the LGBT Elder Initiative at 267-546-3448.
Ed Bomba is communications chair of the LGBT Elder Initiative. The LGBTEI fosters and advocates for services and resources that are competent, culturally sensitive, inclusive and responsive to the needs of LGBT older adults. To comment on this column, suggest topics for future columns or for more information, visit www.lgbtei.org or call 267-546-3448 and watch for “Gettin’ On” each month in PGN.