Black older gay men

Cecelia Hayden Smith, 72, knows exactly how she wants to live out the remainder of her golden years: lounging lazily on the porch of a cozy house tucked along a quiet, treelined street in Washington, D. For now, her dream is in stark contrast of her reality. She and her partner of 30 years, a year-old woman whose names she prefers not to mention, have had health challenges, forcing them to live on a fixed budget in pricey Washington, D.

They can only afford to live in a crumbling six-bedroom townhome, which they share with three middle-aged and older straight and lesbian women. Hayden Smith and her partner are among the estimated 2. Approximately 20 percent of LGBTQ older adults are people of colora number expected to double by Although economic, social, physical and mental health disparities are high among all LGBTQ older adults, the complexities of race, age, men orientation and gender identity are especially challenging for many black LGBTQ elders.

Imani Woody. It gets to a point where you wake up and old, 'Which fight am I going to fight today? The sparse research available on this embattled group reveals chronic levels of discrimination, poverty, social isolation and physical and mental health disparities. Advocates attribute the black disparities of black LGBTQ elders to longstanding race, age and LGBTQ discrimination, which has been exacerbated by a lack of equal protection under the law and social stigma.

Neglect and isolation are especially prevalent when their peers — the old support network many of them have due to family rejection — die off or age themselves, as research shows older LGBTQ adults are less likely to be partnered or married or to have children to depend on as caregivers. In addition, a SAGE report found African-American LGBTQ older adults were four times more likely than their Hispanic and white counterparts — 26 percent versus 8 percent — gay consider people from their churches or faith as part of their support systems.

While many advocates say the legalization of same-sex marriage has been helpful to the well-being gay LGBTQ elders, many who have not married still struggle to receive the financial and family protections afforded to unmarried, different-sex couples — especially after their partner dies or suffers a black illness.

Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are especially problematic for black LGBTQ elders, according to Kenneth Mitchell, 62, a black gay man living in New Orleans. Cedric Burgess, 65, a black gay man in Washington D. People need people to talk to. One way the advocate is trying to do so is by making that cozy retirement house Hayden Smith dreams of a men.

Black, Gray and Gay: The Perils of Aging LGBTQ People of Color

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