The Antidote

Counterspin for Health Care and Health News

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Isn't getting old hard enough as it is?

The New York Times today reports on various forms of mistreatment and bias against elderly gay people, especially in assisted-living and long-term care facilities. There are not a lot of data here, just a few anecdotes and examples of efforts to address the problem, but that's ok - the fact that it ever occurs is unacceptable. And you can sort of see what's going on - elderly people slowly lose their ability to control the environment they live in, and the world at large is still quite homophobic. So if you've grown up in the closet and eventually gotten past all the barriers to coming out, you now find yourself in a position of going back in, or struggling mightily to surround yourself with people who will accept you.

The problem simply had never occurred to me, and I have few words to express how sad it makes me.

1 Comments:

At 9:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had never thought about this either. And I do find it incredibly sad. For some reason, I have a special affinity for gay people. In the early 90s, I did a series for The Des Moines Register on what it's like to be gay and lesbian. I had incredible interviews with dozens of gays and lesbians in Iowa. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my career.

 

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