Life Done Right™

on Oct 9th, 2007Gay Seniors Aging Bias Discrimination For Beginners

Did you require a night light as a kid? Did the dark frighten you so bad that falling asleep seemed more like an episode of the Twilight Zone instead of a Disney nursery rhyme? Since fear is hard-wired into our emotional system (don’t get all academic on me), it’s no surprise that our experience of it might influence the state of our mental health. Now add in your gay.

Let’s start with two facts: “There are an estimated 2.4 million gay, lesbian or bisexual Americans over the age of 55. Among those in same-sex couples, the number of gay men and women over 55 has almost doubled from 2000 to 2006 to 416,000, from 222,000.”

In the 20th Century, these facts would probably remain entombed in the coffins of those who passed their time living a double life. This being the 21st Century, though, such facts are political fodder for demanding a set of rights that belong to any human being on earth. As more gay seniors retire and fall prey to such maladies at Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, etc., the need for caregiving and friendship becomes more visible.

Thankfully there are now organizations to handle the problems, regardless of some political groups who would rather shove everything in the closet than put things in their natural place.