John reported on the NIH report here. Another report has surfaced via the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. The report's empirical data proves there are some major health concerns for our aging LGBT community. Not surprisingly, our elders are showing the negative signs of the stress from having to suffer through living in an unwelcoming and hateful American anti-gay culture.
Older lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in California are more likely to suffer from chronic physical and mental health problems than their heterosexual counterparts, a new analysis has found. They also are less likely to have live-in partners or adult children who can help care for them.Also, there is this:
Older gay and bisexual men — ages 50 to 70 — reported higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and physical disability than similar heterosexual men, according to the researchers. Older gay and bisexual men also were 45 percent more likely to report symptoms of psychological distress and 50 percent more likely to rate their health as fair or poor. In addition, one in five gay men in California was living with H.I.V. infection, the researchers found.The problem is a complicated one with several time sensitive and social variables. First, our older LGBT citizens have had to deal with a far more negative and pervasively discriminatory society. Secondly, our gay culture needs to learn how to honor and embrace our elders and thirdly, we lost a core generation of gay men who succumbed to HIV who might have been instrumental in making the older generation's transition to their golden years easier. Our community needs to remember we all participate in the aging process and honor and support our elderly.
Yet half of California’s older gay and bisexual men lived alone, compared with 13.4 percent of older heterosexual men.
