Elderly Gays Have Unique Problems
By Andy Heath
I spent several years working in nursing homes when I was in college, and on occasion I would encounter a gay man or lesbian woman while working. There was one particular man that took a liking to me, and I visited him for several years after I stopped working in nursing homes. He was actually a very happy person, but I'm afraid that is out of the ordinary for gay and lesbian seniors.
As we age, we find that we are less in demand with the gay community because we are not as attractive as before. Add that to the fact that we typically do not have children, and that is a recipe for disaster in our old age. Gay men and lesbian women have very unique problems and need special attention, as they are a special population inside a special population.
I would urge everyone to visit elders in general. Spend some time with men and women in nursing homes and see if you can learn something from them. But even more important is to spend time with out own people in nursing homes. We need to be able to offer the gift of ourselves to others and make ourselves available to those that have no one. And gay seniors typically have no one to count on.
