At 63, Gabrielle Claiborne says she’s living her best life. Her business is thriving, she’s a published author and she has friends who accept her for who she is. But as a transgender woman, Claiborne worries about growing old and needing help from caregivers or health care providers she doesn’t know.
“I’m concerned about the treatment I’m going to get if I’m relying on someone and they, for whatever reason, don’t support who I am,” says Claiborne, an AARP member and CEO of Transformation Journeys Worldwide, which helps organizations be more inclusive with trans and gender expansive people; she’s also led workshops for AARP. “This is not just a fear of mine. This is a fear of the [aging] LGBTQ+ community.”
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people who have fought for their rights continue to face obstacles as they age: social isolation, discrimination and limited access to health care.
“There are a lot of aging concerns that happen within the LGBTQ+ community that people don’t think of,” says Hillary Williams Thomas, associate state director for advocacy at AARP Georgia, which works to help older LGBTQ+ residents.
AARP Georgia’s efforts include workshops aimed to help people age and thrive with HIV, and a program on how to avoid romance and impostor scams.
In the past, AARP has hosted job fairs to help employers make their offices more inclusive. And it has trained staff of health care facilities and developed resources on ways to ensure inclusivity for LGBTQ+ patients and residents.
“Think about a time in your life when you’re becoming very vulnerable — and not only do you need someone to help you, you potentially have people who are not supportive of you,” Williams Thomas says. […]
Click here to read the full piece. This story was originally published by AARP State on November 1, 2023.
