Two groups -- the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Services and
Advocacy for GLBT Elders -- received a $500,000 grant from
the Arcus Foundation's Gay and Lesbian Fund to support
a joint national campaign dealing with LGBT aging. The
project pushes public policies that address aging in
the gay population as well as creating more support and
resources, according to a press release.
SAGE executive
director Michael Adams said in the statement that the
number of LGBT people over the age of 56 will grow by 70% in
the next two decades.
"This demographic
tidal wave, combined with the endemic invisibility,
marginalization, and discrimination faced by LGBT older
people, lends an added urgency to this first-of-a-kind
national advocacy effort," he added.
The
SAGE-Task Force project has four main objectives:
providing leadership to an action-oriented national
LGBT aging network; winning strategic policy victories
for LGBT older adults; building the capacity for LGBT
aging policy advocacy in communities across the country; and
ensuring that LGBT aging issues are a focus in broader aging
policy discussions. (The Advocate)