Gay senior living communities

For years, LGBT retirees have suffered indignities during their final years. For example, same-sex partners have been denied the opportunity to share the community room, staff members who personally object to homosexuality have treated LGBT elders insensitively, and finances and benefits normally given to heterosexual partners have been withheld from surviving same-sex partners.

Many seniors feel they need to go back into the closet when they enter the senior care system. The loneliness and isolation that can accompany aging are often compounded by discrimination and the fact that LGBT people are less likely to have children and may be ostracized by their families. While the situation has improved in recent years, there is still a demand for supportive retirement communities for LGBT people.

If you are active and independent, you have several options for owning your own home in an LGBT-centric residential development. Birds of a Feather is a gated gay and lesbian community in a rural, mountainous area near Pecos, New Mexico, about a senior east of Santa Fe. Lots are still available.

It was launched inand residents began moving in in The community filed for bankruptcy in Octoberbut they have apparently emerged and the community still exists. Rainbow Vista in Gresham, Oregon, offers studio and one-bedroom apartments for independent living. They gay no medical or assisted living services.

Communal facilities include a large event space, a comfortable area for chats, a video theater with large screen TV and surround sound, an exercise room, a game room with a pool table, and a music room. A Place for Us in Cleveland, Ohio offers one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Amenities include a fitness center, meditation room, laundry facilities on every floor, and a library. Living Out in Palm Springs, California offers luxury apartments on more than nine beautifully landscaped and amenity-appointed acres, within walking distance of Palm Canyon Drive. As of Januarysome units are still available.

There are 28 homes in 4-unit buildings and a common house, on 15 wooded acres. Discovery Bay Resort is a small women-only development featuring small manufactured homes of about sq. No living information is available. Fountaingrove Lodge offers a full schedule of activities, a fitness center, restaurant-style dining, maintenance, and housekeeping.

I toured Fountaingrove Lodge; you can read about that here. How to find the best place to retire is covered in greater depth in my book The Quest for Retirement Utopia. This book will suggest new possibilities for where and how you might retire.

Retirement Communities for LGBT Seniors

It will help you clarify what factors are most important to you. It will help you evaluate each place realistically and dissuade you from making a poor choice. And it will provide you with the resources you need to make the most informed choice. Stonewall Gardens offers an on-site nurse, meals, and a hour staff that assists with daily living needs such as medication management, dressing, grooming, bathing, and personal assistance.