In another Historic First, AARP to Sponsor its First Conference on LGBT Aging

by Michael Jones · 2008-10-11 13:06:00 UTC
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SAGETo paraphrase the line from Jersey Boys, "It's a Season of Firsts!" Connecticut becomes the first state to rule that civil unions are unequal under the law to marriage, and this coming week, the American Association of Retired Persons (more popularly known as just AARP) will sponsor its first ever conference on aging gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

The significance of this cannot be understated. AARP is the largest advocacy group in the country for people over the age of 50. It is the nation's largest lobby, with 35 million members. That's bigger than the entire population of Canada. As raw numbers go, the only group with more members in the United States is the Roman Catholic Church. For now. (Church attendance continues to dwindle, while all of us grow older. In my case, evidenced by the Anderson Cooper-like hair, despite the fact that I'm still in my 20s.)

The AARP-sponsored conference on LGBT aging is being organized by SAGE - Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders. SAGE works on addressing the social isolation felt by many LGBT seniors, especially in a senior care system that is largely designed for addressing the needs of an aging heterosexual population. According to SAGE, LGBT seniors may be as much as five times less likely to access needed health and social services because of their fear of discrimination, are twice as likely to live alone than heterosexual seniors, and are four times less likely to have children. All of that combined can lead to LGBT seniors jumping back into the closet, or refusing help.

Which is why recognition by the AARP of the need to support services to LGBT elders is critically important. The SAGE/AARP conference, "It’s About Time: LGBT Aging in a Changing World," will be held October 12-14 in New York, and is expected to draw more than 600 attendees. For those in New York, be sure to check out SAGE's public advertising campaign to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The organization will be hitting almost every square inch of the New York Transit Authority, with ads on subways, buses and trains all throughout NYC, as well as phone kiosks. For a preview of the advertising campaign, click here.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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