A new feature here at http://gayrights.change.org - a study of the week! Nearly every day there's a study on a range of LGBT issues, from how gays and lesbians spend their money to how many same-sex couples have gotten married in states across the country. We must be an interesting people for sociologists and economists to follow...!
This study here merits being the first featured study of the week. It's a follow-up to a post I wrote a couple weeks ago about the first ever AARP-sponsored conference on LGBT aging, organized by SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders). What does it say? Well, nothing that should be too surprising, although issues of LGBT aging are often overlooked. Here are the nuts and bolts:
- There are currently three million LGBT people over the age of 55, a number that will likely grow in upwards of four million by 2016;
- 44 percent of these folks consider themselves "totally out," while 31.7 percent consider themselves "mostly out"
- The greatest worries for LGBT seniors are pretty similar to those faced by heterosexual seniors: being unable to cope, being independent, outliving their income, and being alone.
- In some cases, fear of discrimination causes LGBT seniors to retreat back into the closet.
SAGE is a cool organization. They have 10 affiliates throughout the country, and are headquartered in New York. Their recent AARP-sponsored conference drew 600 guests.
Check them out. Check the study out. And add a new word to your LGBT language lexicon: Gayby Boomers.
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