Foreword to "Outing Age 2010"

Download Outing Age 2010 and the related FAQ here

Foreword

As a 42-year-old who has the great honor of doing this work, I owe a huge debt to the pre-Stonewall and Baby Boomer generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who literally put their lives and livelihoods on the line to ensure that our movement for equality and justice prevails. Our forbearers created the literature, community centers, newspapers, grassroots and national organizations, legal protections and sense of possibility that have formed the backbone of our communities. As these pioneering generations of LGBT people move into their 70s, 80s, and 90s, I am struck by the fact that many of them are compelled by circumstance to do what they have always done in the face of anti-LGBT prejudice and inequality: create change.

I wish it were not so. I wish it was time to relax and say: job well done. But the hard reality is, many LGBT elders are living in isolation and fear over how they will sustain themselves as they age, and how they will be treated by providers of aging services. While much has been accomplished through the passion, persistence and indomitable energy of LGBT activists on aging over many years, the aging boom is upon us, and the policies and practices essential to meeting the needs of LGBT elders are simply not in place.

To address these challenges, the Task Force is proud to re-issue its landmark book, Outing Age, ten years after its initial publication. What is the state of aging for LGBT elders? What are our particular strengths and vulnerabilities? What is the state of progress in federal, state and institutional policies that best serve LGBT older adults? What can we point to in our organizing, advocacy and creative adaptations over the past ten years as guideposts to future progress? Outing Age 2010 charts this important territory.

Black lesbian feminist activist Audre Lorde has said that: “the learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot.” If so, we offer this book to incite the educational “riot” essential to revolutionary thinking and change regarding the care and treatment of LGBT elders. It is clear that the task before us requires strategic advocacy and tremendous determination. The Task Force — along with Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), statewide LGBT organizations, local LGBT elder-serving groups and key allies like AARP — is committed to shining a spotlight on the injustices that continue to create barriers to aging with autonomy, dignity and affirming community.

The scenario of LGBT adults being forced back into the closet for safety in hostile elder environments is alarming and disgraceful. The Task Force will ensure that Outing Age 2010 doesn’t sit on a shelf, but informs key breakthroughs and advancements in advocacy. All of us must work together to compel the federal government, the states, aging agencies and service providers, local communities, and public health and housing programs to step up to the challenge of meeting the vast, unmet needs of LGBT elders.

We must accept nothing less.

Rea Carey

Executive Director

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Report and related FAQ available for download here.