When I'm Old and Gay

by David Mixner

In the Bible in Palms 71:18 there is a verse that says, "When I am old and gray, do not forsake me..."
The LGBT community is about to lose their tribal leaders, elders and generational history without even a peep. In addition, our collective soul might be scarred for ignoring the plight and needs of those whose sacrifice made it possible for today's generation. Most will never even know or enjoy the rights that they fought so hard for you to celebrate today. They couldn't adopt children, run for office or serve in the military.

Often they were institutionalized or forced to live lives of lies and fear.

The baby boom generation of LGBT citizens is the one that spans our history from the oppressive 50's, to the transitional 60's, the liberating 70's, the plague ridden 80's and the beginning of hope in the 1990's. A good deal of the male population of those times already passed in the prime of their youth from HIV/AIDS. Some of the most remarkable women LGBT leaders came to power in that time. Epic battles and tragic stories are waiting to be recorded and told to future generations.

The LGBT community must acknowledge that this generation of LGBT baby boomers is getting old in a time with few services to meet their needs as LGBT seniors. Often they are in smaller and smaller living units, scraping by with little food, limited access to healthcare and almost no living facilities to share with other senior LGBT citizens. The few gay men that are still alive after the AIDS onslaught have few or no peers to share their senior years since the disease wiped out so many of their friends. Like it or not, what remains from the pandemic is an epidemic of loneliness among our seniors.

Adding to our shame in treatment of our LGBT seniors is the fact that we are losing our history.

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Message from Assistant Secretary Greenlee on World AIDS Day, December 1

Image via Wikipediaby Assistant Secretary Greenlee

Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been celebrated on December 1 around the world.  Over the years, it has become one of the most recognized international health days and a key opportunity to raise awareness and bring attention to prevention and treatment services.  Twenty-four percent of people living with HIV nationwide are over the age of 50 and research indicates that by 2015 half of the people living with HIV in the U.S. will be over age 50.  On top of that, we now know that fifteen percent of new cases occur among people aged 50 and older.

For these reasons, it is critical that the Aging Services Network participate in activities, including World AIDS Day, to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS among older adults and their caregivers.  Aging services providers and HIV care providers must work together to educate older Americans about the prevention of HIV as well as to ensure that the special needs of the older men and women living with HIV can be effectively addressed in an integrated and collaborative fashion. 

Please join the Administration on Aging on December 1st in recognizing World AIDS Day. 

September 18 Is National HIV/AIDS & Aging Awareness Day

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The third annual National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (NHAAAD) will be held on September 18, 2010. NHAAAD focuses on the challenging issues facing the aging population with regards to HIV prevention, testing, care, and treatment. This year’s campaign theme, Aging is a part of life; HIV doesn't have to be, illustrates the need to promote HIV prevention, education and testing among older Americans, who are frequently ignored when it comes to diagnoses.

In an effort to continually expand awareness about HIV/AIDS among the aging population, organizations and community members are invited to develop, implement and participate in awareness activities and events on or around September 18, 2010.

To download information and materials on events and activities to plan in your community, please go to http://www.theaidsinstitute.org/asp/ai_events.asp?ms=4&ss=55

To register your NHAAAD event, please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DK8SXLZ

To learn more about AIDS and older Americans, please go to http://www.aids.gov/ or www.TheAIDSInstitute.org

Report: More Seniors Living With HIV :: EDGE New England

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by Steve Weinstein
 
On July 15, the New York City Department of Health released a report that confirmed in the most astonishing way earlier findings that the population of people living with HIV and AIDS was aging: three-quarters of those people in the city are now in their 40s or older, and more than one-third are over age 50.

Just as they do in the HIV population in general, women constitute the largest-growing numbers in HIV-positive older people. The report confirms one released last month by Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the city’s (and the world’s) largest private AIDS service organization.
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Speaking Out for a Group Once Unheard-Of: Aging With AIDS

By KAREN BARROW - Published: November 11, 2008, NY Times In the developed worlds, AIDS has become a chronic condition to be managed but a diagnosis still comes with its own challenges. ---- In fact, 29 percent of those infected with H.I.V. are over 50. And because the immune system deteriorates with age, the virus is all the more aggressive in older people. Moreover, conditions that are often part of the aging process, like arthritis and dementia, can also be caused by H.I.V. So sorting through symptoms and effectively treating them — not to mention avoiding dangerous drug interactions — can be daunting. There is also an alarming rate of infection among older Americans. In 2005, 15 percent of new H.I.V. and AIDS diagnoses were among people over the age of 50, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet government recommendations call for routine AIDS screening only up to age 64, omitting the elderly population.