July 6. 2009

A lay person’s legal guide to issues facing LGBT seniors was released today by National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), a legal organization dedicated to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBT people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.

The document is available here in PDF format.

In the guide’s introduction, its authors write, “There are an estimated 3.5 to 4 million LGBT persons age 65 and older in the US. But as LGBT people age, you may confront institutions and public policies that do not recognize your needs or acknowledge your families, or that discriminate against you based on your sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”

The NCLR guide, called “Planning With Purpose: Legal Basics for LGBT Elders”, includes information about those and other issues related to relationship recognition, finances, health care, long term care, planning for the care of minor or disabled children, inheritance, elder abuse, and discrimination against LGBT elders.

An article in today’s Desert Sun, the newspaper for Palm Springs, Calif. also  looks at the unique challenges faced by LGBT seniors. The area is estimated to have the third highest concentration of senior same-sex couples nationwide, making it easy for the reporter to find deeply personal and moving stories about the issues facing LGBT seniors.

Sun reporter Nicole Brambila writes:

[U]nlike their straight counterparts, gays and lesbians face unique challenges: gay seniors are more likely to be poor, live alone, and have weaker support systems.

“The gay senior is in a unique situation in that they grew up in a time period where it was illegal to be gay,” said Harvey Stern, director of the Golden Rainbow Senior Center in Palm Springs. “It was considered a mental illness. That internalized homophobia does not go away.

“If you're poor and you're frail and you live alone then you're in a vulnerable situation and that's when people go back into the closet.”

“LGBT people have made progress on our civil rights, but there is still a lot to consider if you are an older LGBT person in the US,” said NCLR Elder Law Project Consultant Joyce Pierson in a statement announcing her group’s guide. “While it may not be easy to think about your life from a legal perspective, it is extremely important that you learn about and use all of the legal protections available to you. Planning is the key." 

The guide offers easy-to-understand tips and also gives extensive links to external sources of information.

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Chad Gibson was seriously injured June 28 at Fort Worth’s Rainbow Lounge when the gay club was raided by Fort Worth police officers and agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).  He was hospitalized with bleeding in his brain, bruises on his face, and strained muscles after he was restrained at the bar.

In his first interviews since being released after a week in the hospital, Gibson said he wants those responsible for his injuries to be prosecuted. And he wants the city of Fort Worth to accept responsibility – something officials have not done.

“They have blamed it on me, that I was drunk [and] that I hit my head. I groped the officer. I did this. I did that,” Gibson told WFAA TV. “You know what, no ... Accept responsibility.”

“You used excessive force and that's why I got hurt,” he said.

Gibson said he is also frustrated at the city pointing the blame at the TABC.

“Even if the Fort Worth Police didn’t touch me, they watched it,” he said. “They watched other people do that to me.”

Gibson said doctors told him that he could have severe headaches for years as a result of the injuries inflicted on him.

KXAS video after break More...