More retirement communities for LGBTQ+ older adults are coming online, but developers need to step up their efforts to address the needs of members of the “silver rainbow,” according to an AARP article.
“I think because of culture shift and visibility, people are seeing that LGBTQ+ people are aging in need of culturally responsive, affirming housing,” Sydney Kopp-Richardson, director of the National LGBTQ+ Elder Housing Initiative at LGBTQ+ elder advocacy group SAGE, told the AARP.
SAGE estimates that by 2030, approximately 7 million LGBTQ+ Americans will be aged 50 or more years.
“Decades of discrimination have impacted LGBTQ+ elders,” Kopp-Richardson said, adding that memories of stigma and rejection can send them back into the closet in their retirement years in traditional long-term care settings. […]
Click here to read the full piece. This story was originally published by McKnights Senior Living on June 18, 2024.
