Elderly gays and lesbians face prejudice in their twilight years

Elderly gay people living in nursing homes or assisted-living centers or receiving home care, increasingly reportthat they have been disrespected, shunned or mistreated in ways thatrange from hurtful to deadly, even leading some to commit suicide.  Some have seen their partners and friends insulted or isolated. Otherslive in fear of the day when they are dependent on strangers for themost personal care. That dread alone can be damaging, physically andemotionally, say geriatric doctors, psychiatrists, and social workers.  Theplight of the gay elderly has been taken up by a generation of gay menand lesbians, concerned about their own futures, who have begun anational drive to educate care providers about the social isolation,even outright discrimination, that lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender clients face.  Several solutions are emerging. InBoston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and other urban centers, so-calledL.G.B.T. Aging Projects are springing up, to train long-term careproviders. At the same time, there is a move to separate care, with thecomfort of the familiar.

Read  more in the New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/09aged.html?ex=1192593600&en=31488165b0295b95&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Thanks to Allison Crandall for the tip….