LGBT Elder Initiative

Our LGBT elders are the pioneers that led the fight that brought us all of the progress in LGBT rights made over the past several decades. Now 50 years after Stonewall, our LGBT elders have earned the right to grow older while being treated with dignity and respect. With your support, we can help guarantee that reality.

Yet, many LGBT elders face daily discrimination and are experiencing the effects of health disparities, housing insecurity, and financial stress. Many face the fear of having to go back into the closet in order to access care from the aging services system. We cannot stand by and not do something.

Join the EI in working to assure that older LGBT adults are able to age with access to the resources and services that are safe, inclusive, and responsive to their needs. Our advocacy efforts within aging services are improving the cultural competence of the provider network. Our work statewide is raising the visibility of LGBT aging issues across Pennsylvania and identifying strategies to improve outreach, resources, and services.

Our programming is helping LGBT older adults to thrive throughout their elder years. New program initiatives this year – including our “Doctor Is In” health series, our new “Thrivers” discussion groups for long-term survivors of HIV, and our recently completed Chronic Disease Self-Management Program for LGBT older adults – are supporting LGBT individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to better manage their health and navigate their care as they age.

Help us to continue to grow our programming and advocacy to ensure that our LGBT pioneers can enjoy the elder years that they deserve TODAY.

Think of it - older members of the LGBT community have lived through a lot.

We grew up in a world that was overwhelmingly hostile to our sexual orientations and gender identities. Yet as we came out to family, friends, and employers, we paved the way to a far more tolerant and accepting society. We survived the social panic and political hysteria of the early years of the AIDS epidemic. After decades of struggle, we’ve even lived to see the right to same-sex marriage become the law of the land.

Now, as we grow older, we face isolation and potentially debilitating health issues that come with aging. But even worse, there is a growing movement in our society that would like nothing better than to turn back the clock and force LGBT elders back into the closet.   

We cannot let that happen.

Join us in supporting the LGBT Elder Initiative in our vision of a world where LGBT older adults have rights and opportunities to live vibrant, creative, and mutually supportive lives. Your support can make that vision a reality, as we build bridges between aging services, healthcare, and LGBT community organizations and consumers through advocacy, information, education and referral.

In the coming year, we will be working to build a more LGBT culturally competent aging services network across Pennsylvania. We will be developing and strengthening partnerships with healthcare institutions, homecare agencies, and managed care providers in the Greater Philadelphia region to ensure greater inclusivity and LGBT sensitivity.

Our educational programming will improve community health and connect LGBT older adults, particularly those who are traditionally underserved, with the resources and services needed to age well. This year’s programming will give special focus to issues of social isolation, housing and long-term care, aging with HIV, and managing chronic conditions. 

Simply put, we are committed to ensuring that all LGBT older adults are able to age successfully with access to services and resources that are competent, culturally sensitive, inclusive, and responsive to our unique needs. Especially in these political times, we will fight to ensure that members of our communities will never be forced back into the closet in order to access services as they age. After all we’ve lived through, we are ready to age with the success and dignity we all deserve!



If you prefer to donate by check, make checks payable to "LGBT Elder Initiative" and mail to:
LGBT Elder Initiative
1315 Spruce St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107