GLEH Housing for Gay and Lesbian Seniors

Aging lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in California have higher rates of chronic disease, mental distress and isolation than their heterosexual counterparts, according to a report released yesterday by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. An estimated 170,000 adults ages 50 to 70 in California identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual in 2007. Researchers estimate that the national population of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults age 65 and older will double to 3 million by 2030. The report's findings indicate their current and growing health needs, and the unique challenges they face as they age.

ast week was the kind of week that doesn't come around often. But when it does, it's a game-changer. In the space of eight hours the Obama administration announced that it would no longer defend the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" in court, calling it unconstitutional; the Maryland Senate advanced a bill that would allow gay couples to marry (with the measure now awaiting House action); and Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed that state's recently passed civil union bill into law.

A lot can be said about aging. Some see it as liberating while others view the process with fear. For many elders, the prospect of living on a small Social Security stipend, coupled with rising costs, decreased mobility, and limited options put our community in peril. Add to that the lack of familial support and isolation that goes hand in hand with also being an LGBT or HIV/AIDS senior and you get an idea of what some “Golden Years” might bring.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The Pentagon will use a three-step process to prepare to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. Gates said the department wants to implement repeal of the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy, in effect since 1993, as expeditiously as possible, the department said Friday in a release.

SAN FRANCISCO -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and lesbian weddings have the right to defend it in court.

Chanting and carrying signs, a crowd of more than 700 people rallied at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center Sunday and then and marched more than a mile to the Social Security Administration office in Hollywood today to call for end to the discrimination that deprives older LGBT taxpayers of hundreds of millions in Social Security benefits every year, Associated Press reports.

According to a recently released report prepared by an LGBT advocacy group and endorsed by major aging groups, including AARP and the American Society on Aging, Gay senior citizens face a multitude of social and financial problems. However the group Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders, or SAGE, says the the greatest hurdle may be the inequity of Social Security.

A second major report focusing on aging LGBT people was released today. Yesterday, the LGBT advocacy group SAGE released a report that addresses the needs of older populations in general, including members of the WWII generation who now face issues with care facilities. The second report released today focuses on a subset of the population—boomers born between 1946 and 1964. The study found that the LGBT boomers have a broader definition of “family” than do members of the general population and depend on their “chosen family” of friends and associates for a broad range of support.

LGBT senior citizens face unique social and financial problems, and lawmakers could help them by modifying Social Security and Medicaid rules, according to a national report released Wednesday in Chicago at a national conference on aging. Tom Nelson, chief operating officer of AARP, wrote the report’s foreword and said Tuesday that his organization wanted to see the needs of LGBT seniors discussed and met.

CHICAGO -- When federal officials studied housing discrimination based on race, the setup was simple: They sent in testers of different backgrounds and gauged how landlords and real estate agents treated people of color compared with whites. As the government prepares a first-ever study of housing discrimination against gays, however, the issue is more complex. How do you design a study to make an applicant's sexual orientation or gender identity as obvious as race and color?