Gay Seniors

SOCIETY

Facts About the Aging Lesbian and Gay Community

Newsweek Web Exclusive

Updated: 11:37 a.m. ET Sep 18, 2008

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Over the next 25 years, persons in America who are 65 and older are expected to grow from about 12 to 20 percent of the total population. Estimates indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals will comprise 7 to 10 percent of that senior population.

Gay seniors are twice as likely as straights to live alone, and 10 times less likely to have someone to care for them should they fall ill, according to SAGE. Ninety percent of gay retirees have no children, and nearly 80 percent are single, according to some estimates.Gay men are at higher risk for HIV, hepatitis and other sexually-transmitted infections, and evidence suggests this may be especially true for older gay men.Despite infection rates that remain level, people over 50 now make up the fastest-growing segment of those living with HIV. Between 1990 and 2005, the number of AIDS cases among people over 50 increased more than 700 percent--today, 35 percent of people with HIV are 50 and older, and 70 percent are over 40, according to the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA).Gay seniors are half as likely to have health insurance coverage than their straight counterparts, according to the Williams Institute.According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 76 percent of the general public supports laws to protect gay men and lesbians from discrimination in employment. Most also support giving benefits to same-sex partners, including inheritance rights, employer-provided health insurance and Social Security.

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Posted By: MichaelJohnG @ 09/20/2008 6:32:55 PM

Be safe, Be smart, and try to life a long and happy life together and hopefully your family won't take the gold-digging, grim-reapering plot and plan, and will just allow whatever your WILL is together is exactly THAT, and there will be no friction with the surviving partner and the deceased one's family and its many memebers who THEN in fact come out of nowhere! Heck, they even come out of closets, just to try to get something out of you that isn't theirs and was never meant to be for some strong back-boned reasoning or another... e-mail: mjgruity@gmail.com which is me and give me your thoughts on this issue or if you'd like more advice, I'd be happy to help the best I can to my ability and time-wise. "The secret to life is Happiness; whatever it is that makes you this way- strive for it, embrace it, fight for it, and never let it go....." - Me, Michael John
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Posted By: MichaelJohnG @ 09/20/2008 6:30:46 PM

Then, when the demise comes to the passing of your partner, that same "mother-in-law" or whomever in the opposite side of the family starts to pry into assets whether they be shared or titled jointly, even bank accounts and annuities as such, etc.... The opposing family seems to only want you to pay for the funeral and take charge of the incurred debt and outstanding loans. They will want to have possession of anything and everything they can by challenging your WILL or any other legal document and produce any evidence they have of the 2 or your arguing or whatever a court will allow. So, long story short; make certain you live in a friendly as possible state and make certain you have a very Tight WILL stating that the two of you are of sane mind and not influenced in any way shape or form and make certain you have as many witnesses as possible of high society and respect in the state or community so choose to reside and plan on spending your last days. There are so many more issues that come into play with this, but for now, this is all I want to comment about at this time. As for the Caddy and House comments; please please listen to what I stated about having both your names on the titles and insurance, same thing with the deed or mortgage or the house, and more importantly get that WILL done ASAP no matter how old or young you are at the time. As far as the WILL is concerned make certain that each one of you is VERY specific on not just the funeral arrangements, but also if you want something SPECIFIC all the way down to a serial number if it's a TV or whatnot.... and to whom specifically it is to be given and you can even say what age it should be given or when, where, how, and whatnot. Maybe you want to give your nephew a certain outfit or piece of jewlery; make certain the brand name, dimensions, etc., etc., are stated and if it's jewely make a reference to some inventory or model number on the bill of sale and or certificate of authenticity, elsewise they're going to want the whole wardrobe in all the closets, and all the jewelry including what the corpse is wearing and the widow's! It happens all the time to us, it's not easy being gay, alive or even DEAD, but do the best you can to protect yourself from walking down the street, to the maintenance of your body, all the way down to the WILL arrangements and what Plot you will be buried in and also that there's still that one empty plot for your surviving half and that a family member or members don't or haven't try and sell the Plot too.
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Posted By: MichaelJohnG @ 09/20/2008 6:28:01 PM

Alot of evil games and cons can come into play with that, along with the general anxiety of being a parent or parents. To address the earlier comments / issues about the Cadillac and the Home... Do what my lover and I do; put the house in both names, and all of our cars are in both of our names, while we have auto, and several other insurance policies in both or our names. Also, anyone will tell you that no matter how young your partner and you are; a WILL is VERY important. Both sides of both families, whether the accept you and your partner or not, you MUST state how you want your estate to be handled. It's amazing that how much your quote-unquote mother-in-law loves you so much while you are alive and around you, but who knows what she says to your partner behind your back let alone other people in or out of the family.