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Post-Election Guide for LGBTQ+ Older Adults
Produced by the
HRC Foundation
For almost 50 years, the Human Rights Campaign and SAGE have been sharing resources and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
Our teams compiled a helpful resource guide to support each other as we age. Please use and share these resources widely! We will continue to update this resource as we find more helpful information.
Our community is built on caring for one another. From discreetly sharing healthcare resources in bars to being full-time caregivers for our friends, we show up for each other when no one else will. We persevered through some of the most hostile environments and lost far too many loved ones. But we’re not victims. We’re fighters, changemakers, and pioneers. Let’s lean on our community’s learned wisdom, strength, and ingenuity to persist through these challenging times.
Remember, we are bold, proud, and courageous — and we’re not going anywhere.
Essential Community Resources
By now, we know we are stronger together. Whether it’s virtually or in person, connecting with likeminded people can greatly improve your mental and physical health. Here are some of our recommended resources with an emphasis on ensuring you feel safe, fulfilled, and comfortable
Find Connection
One of the most impactful steps we can take right now is to show up — whatever that may look like for you. Being engaged with one another can help us feel less alone and mitigate feelings of powerlessness.
+ SAGE Centers: Visit one of our four centers in New York City.
+ SAGE Florida: Explore SAGE’s services in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.
+ SAGECollab: Find a SAGECollab partner near you to connect with like-minded people in your community.
+ CenterLink: Find a local LGBTQ+ center or program near you with CenterLink’s database.
+ Equality Federation: Browse Equality Federation’s partners across the country for state-wide equality organizations that have social programming.
Find Supportive Services, Employers, & Places To Live
Each area of our lives is interconnected. Here are some helpful guides to help you find inclusive places to live, vetted companies for employment opportunities, and service providers specifically trained in LGBTQ+ care.
+ Find a SAGECare Credentialed Provider: Find providers who are trained by SAGE in LGBTQ+ aging cultural competency.
+ National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging: The country’s first and only technical resource center focused on improving the quality of services and supports offered to lesbian, gay, bisexual and or/transgender adults, their families and caregivers.
+ State Equality Index: The Human Rights Campaign State Equality Index (SEI) is a comprehensive state-by-state report that provides a review of statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ+ people and their families. Search for states to see how they are rated.
+ Municipal Equality Index: The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of people who live and work there. Search for municipalities to see how they are rated.
+ LGBTQ+ Inclusive Employer Search: HRC’s Corporate Equality Index rates companies on how inclusive they are. Search for companies to see how they are rated.
+ Healthcare Equality Index: HRC’s HEI promotes equitable and inclusive care for LGBTQ+ patients and their families. Search for healthcare facilities to see how they are rated.
+ Overall Equality Map: A map showing LGBTQ+ equality by state, including gender identity and sexual orientation tallies.
Healthcare Equality Resources
Use our suggested resources to help you access affirming and helpful healthcare. It’s crucial to bolster your resilience and self-compassion during taxing times.
Find Mental Health Help
If you are struggling with your mental health, looking for support, or want to build community, try these resources:
+ 988 Lifeline: Call or text 988 and dial 3 for LGBTQ+ specific services. Note that this extension is primarily targeted to LGBTQ+ youth but help through this service is still available to ALL LGBTQ+ people. You can also dial 988 for local resources.
+ CenterLink: Find a local LGBTQ+ center or program near you with CenterLink’s robust database.
+ SAGE x HearMe: On-demand mental health wellness app specifically for LGBTQ+ elders and their mental health needs.
+ Trans Lifeline: Call 877-565-8860. This resource connects transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive folks to community and resources.
+ PFLAG: Seek out a local PFLAG chapter to find a community of parents and family members of LGBTQ+ people.
+ LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory: Find LGBTQ+ friendly behavioral care near you.
+ Psychology Today: A digital resource to find providers who are friendly to our community’s needs. You can use the filter options to find the best fit.
The HRC Foundation also has a more comprehensive list of resources and hotlines, including those targeted to specific populations.
Find Inclusive Medical Services
You shouldn’t have to worry about your safety or having to defend yourself while seeking medical care.
+ Long-Term Care Equality Index: The LEI promotes equitable and inclusive care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer older adults in residential long-term care and senior housing.
+ Healthcare Equality Index: The HEI promotes equitable and inclusive care for LGBTQ+ patients and their families in healthcare organizations.
+ LGBTQ+ Healthcare Directory: Find LGBTQ+ friendly healthcare provider options in your area.
+ FOLX Health: A health and wellness platform for the LGBTQIA+ community seeking gender-affirming care, primary care, and mental health support.
+ Plume Health: Gender-affirming hormone therapy and everyday care.
Tip: Remember, this is your health. Ask your provider any questions, advocate for yourself, and consider asking for a second opinion. You can also lean on reviews to see which providers other people in your community know and trust.
Financial Resources
Our community disproportionately experiences poverty and financial setbacks. For example, LGBTQ+ individuals earn only about 90 cents for every dollar earned by the average worker.We know that aging is expensive in the United States, so it’s important to maximize your savings and earnings.
+ SAGECents: A free digital tool that gives you access to financial tools and resources tailored to the LGBTQ+ experience.
+ TGNB Surgery Funds: Point of Pride gives financial aid and direct support to transgender individuals requesting health and wellness care.
+ Trans Equality ID Documents: Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) has a hub for name and gender change resources.
+ Name Change Funds: Point of Pride gives financial aid for those in need of updating identity documents.
+ Protect Your Wallet: A guide to avoiding financial scams.
Safety Resources
There are a few things you can do right now to ensure you feel as prepared and protected as possible. We aren’t victims, but we are still vulnerable. As the backbone of our community, our elders deserve better.
+ Self-defense: Essential information elders should know because you’re never too old to fight back!
+ Home Safety Tips for Older Adults: Home safety tips for elders who wish to age in place.
+ Anti-Violence Project Hotline: Have you witnessed or experienced violence? Call the 24-Hour English/Spanish Hotline, 212-714-1141. You are also welcome to call with any concerns of violence. All calls are free and confidential, and the counselors specialize in aiding the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV
Technology is constantly evolving and can be overwhelming. Many scammers will purposely target elders. Here are a few ways you can arm yourself against fraud.
+ Online Privacy and Security Consumer Advice: The Federal Trade Commission’s resources for understanding online privacy, how to protect your devices from hackers and threats, and how to avoid common online scams.
+ Senior Medicare Patrol: Protect yourself and your loved ones from Medicare fraud.
+ LGBT Tech: Online safety tips including cyber security, cyberbullying, social mediasecurity, and social tools.
Legal Resources
Knowing your rights can help ensure you’re able to advocate for yourself and your loved ones. While we cannot give legal advice, we are happy to point you in the right direction.
This guide does not substitute for legal advice. If you want legal advice, please consult a lawyer.
These resources will help you know what legal rights you have as an LGBTQ+ elder.
+ LGBTQ+ Advance Care Planning Toolkit: A step-by-step guide for the LGBTQ+ community in preparing for healthcare needs and end-of-life decisions.
+ Lambda Legal Know Your Rights: Resources for LGBTQ+ individuals, people living with HIV, transgender people and advocated, and more.
+ Lambda Legal Help Desk: Contact the help desk provides general legal information and resources. Note: This resource cannot give legal advice and is not able to help with emergencies.
+ ACLU Affiliates: Explore a nationwide network of local affiliates.
+ ACLU LGBTQ+ Know Your Rights Guide: A helpful resource outlining your evolving rights as an LGBTQ+ individual.
+ ACLU Transgender Know Your Rights Guides: An in-depth guide to rights for the transgender community.
+ Transgender Law Center: A legal information help desk specifically for our transgender community.
+ Know Your Rights - Trans Legal Survival Guide: Complete a legal “checkup” to help reduce vulnerability.
+ LGBT Bar Association: For you or a LGBTQ+ family member in need of a lawyer, find a bar association in your area.
These resources are meant to help understand your rights based on your legal status.
+ Immigration Equality: An organization devoted to justice and equality for LGBTQ and HIVpositive immigrants.
+ Immigrant Rights: A legal resource center advocating for immigrants and community organizations.
+ National Immigrant Justice Center: A resource hub for protecting yourself and your family ahead of deportation threats, immigration fraud, and much more.
+ Rainbow Railroad: An organization devoted to helping at-risk LGBTQI+ people get to safety across the world.
+ InReach: Verified services for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants, LGBTQ+ Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, the transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) community, LGBTQ+ youth and their caregivers, and LGBTQ+ communities.
+ Human Rights First – Refugee Protection: Pro bono legal representation to refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
In our community, we know family can look and feel different. Here are some helpful resources to ensure your family unit stays as intact and safe as possible
+ Protecting Your LGBTQ+ Marriage and Family: Information about the state of marriage and family protections.
+ Confirmatory Adoption: Understand what the confirmatory process looks like for any LGBTQ+ parent who built their family with assisted reproduction.
+ GLAD - Protecting Families: Helpful steps to take to protect your family.
+ Legal Issues - LGBT Caregivers: Tips for creating estate plans, wills, trusts, power of attorney, and more.
United Together
Find more guides like this for different experiences in our community. Through this campaign we offer general guidance and answer some of your most pressing questions as we all navigate life during the second Trump administration.
The Human Rights Campaign reports on news, events and resources of the
Human Rights Campaign Foundation
that are of interest to the general public and further our common mission
to support the LGBTQ+ community.
- Topics:
- Health & Aging
- Allies
Love conquers hate.
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