LGBTQ+ elders raise their voices once again

The Caring with Pride panel on empowering LGBTQ+ people comes at an important time.

As Beth Bloom, board president of Rainbow Seniors ROC, eloquently said in an interview about Caring with Pride, “There is a generation of aging LGBTQ folks who’ve been out and vocal for so long, they want to make sure their wishes known … and if they need to go into long-term care at some point, they also don’t have to go back in the closet.”

Beth will share her experience as caregiver in the late 1990s for her girlfriend, when she said they were partners, a health care provider asked, “business partners?” Beth replied, “life partners.”

Beth said the respect she and her girlfriend received depended on the nurse or doctor they were seeing. She said since then, things have changed in Rochester and there is more acceptance of LGBTQ individuals.

That’s not true even in other parts of New York. LGBTQ care isn’t always delivered with respect for the patient.

I’ve been asked to support pending legislation in the state Senate (S1783) and Assembly (A372, sponsored by Rochester Assembly member Harry Bronson), that would establish the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Long Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights.

Among other things, the bill would ensure residents’ rights to wear or dress in clothing permitted for other residents and be referred to by a preferred name and pronoun and use restrooms available to other persons of the same gender identity.

The proposed bill would require training for staff in best practices in caring for LGBTQ and/or HIV-positive residents. It would build on existing protections against discrimination; it would protect residents from actions around admission, transfer and discharge or eviction based on a resident’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or HIV status.

By 2030, it is projected that 73% of New Yorkers with HIV will be over age of 50. The pronounced health needs of long-term survivors mean that New Yorkers in this group of HIV-affected elders are more likely to rely on long-term care settings as they age.

Even for LGBTQ elders who are HIV-negative, their health needs may require long-term care.

As Beth points out, much of the work in the LGBTQ community has focused on youth. “But it's important that as we age, that we have systems set up so that we as community organizations can provide support to people when this comes into their lives.”

As I wrote in my letter of support for the bill, the time has come.