The Trump administration has attempted to harm our older LGBT community, but we at SAGE are on the forefront of a campaign to protect the rights that our trailblazers so deserve.
Just what is the Trump administration doing now, you might ask?
While the administration has engaged in a number of actions that harm LGBT older adults — from fighting to repeal the Affordable Care Act to failing to include LGBT older adults in the census — the issue that has hit home for SAGE is the recent effort to erase LGBT older adults from a major aging survey. In short, the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants (NSOAAP), overseen by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), determines how billions of dollars are spent on federally funded aging programs such as Meals on Wheels and caregiver support. In 2014, the Obama administration included LGBT status as a demographic question for the first time. Now the Trump administration wants to make one change — and one change only — to the survey: removing the LGBT question.
Why? Look at the context. This action appears to be part of a recent systemic effort by this administration to erase any official record of the LGBT community. This erasure includes the elimination of a sexual-orientation and gender-identity question from Health and Human Services’ Annual Performance Report for Centers for Independent Living; the cancellation of a Housing and Urban Development LGBT-youth homelessness survey; and the failure to include a sexual-orientation and gender-identity question in the 2020 census. These actions send an ominous message to our LGBT community.
It is clear that the federal government is retreating from its commitment to work for our LGBT community’s full inclusion and equal rights — and is, in fact, actively discriminating against the LGBT community, including LGBT older adults. Many LGBT older people’s lives depend upon federally funded services. Eliminating the ability for them to openly identify their sexuality sends a clear message that the Trump administration doesn’t care whether or not they receive those services.
In response, SAGE launched our #WeRefuseToBeInvisible campaign, a grassroots effort to mobilize a strong response during the public-comment period that the Trump administration is legally required to undertake before making such a change to a federal survey. The first comment period ended May 12 and resulted in more than 9,000 letters making their way to Washington, D.C. Many organizations and coalitions, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Log Cabin Republicans, the Center for American Progress, the Task Force, the ACLU, Justice in Aging, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities and the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations have joined the cause. Dr. Yanira Cruz, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Council on Aging, spoke out powerfully, saying: “We know that Donald Trump and [Health and Human Services Secretary] Tom Price won’t change their minds on their own, which is why we’re joining forces with SAGE to raise our voices in demanding that HHS add LGBT questions back into its survey of older adults. Everyone, at every stage of life, deserves to be counted, heard and treated with respect.”
On April 27, a bipartisan group of 19 U.S. senators led by Sen. Susan Collins, Republican chair of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, publicly demanded a reversal of the Trump administration’s plans to erase LGBT elders. Earlier this month, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus sent a bipartisan letter from 50 members of Congress to the administration admonishing ACL for removing LGBT older adults from the survey and demanding that it reinstate the LGBT demographic question.
The good news is, we are not alone, we will not be erased and there will be more opportunities — for individuals, organizations and coalitions — to make our voices heard. Following an indeterminate period of time to review the comments submitted, we will move on to a second, 30-day comment period. You can bet we will make sure you and others hear about the opportunity to weigh in. We count on you to speak up, speak out and send a clear message to the Trump administration that our LGBT community — in particular LGBT older adults — refuses to be invisible. Sign up for updates at www.sageusa.org/signup.
Aaron Tax is SAGE’s director of advocacy. Based in Washington, D.C., he advocates for LGBT-inclusive federal aging policies that account for the unique needs of LGBT older adults.