Ageing with HIV: The hidden side of world's AIDS crisis
By Richard Ingham (AFP) 22 Jul 2010
The world will face a mighty social and medical challenge as millions of people with HIV survive into old age, The World AIDS Forum has heard. The problem is only now becoming apparent as the first generation living with the human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) head towards their 60th birthday and beyond, thanks to the lifeline of antiretroviral drugs, say specialists. These survivors are mainly in western nations, where the precious therapy first became available from 1996. But they will soon be followed by millions of counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa and other poor countries where the drug rollout started in the middle of the last decade.

  Older people with HIV 'substantially more disadvantaged than peers'
By PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer • July 20, 2010 - 11:37
Research into the experiences of HIV-positive people over the age of 50 suggests they face "substantial" disadvantages compared to the general population. According to the study ‘50 Plus’, the first national study of ageing and HIV, they have worse health, are poorer and fear for the future. The majority of older people with HIV are gay and bisexual men.

  Older men who use Viagra more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases
By Madonna Behen HealthDay Reporter Tue Jul 6
Middle-aged and older men who take erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra are more likely to have sexually transmitted diseases, a new study of more than 1.4 million men finds. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California say the fault lies not with the drugs but rather the high risk behaviors of the men who request them. And doctors should counsel these patients about safe sex practices, they said.

  French couple 1st residents at old age home for gays in Rajpipla, India
By Darshana Chaturvedi, Times of India, Jun 27, 2010
A couple from France will be the first residents of the country's first old age home for gays being constructed in Rajpipla on the banks of Narmada by gay prince and scion of Rajpipla's royal family, Manvendra Singh Gohil. Moreover, this French couple will not just be mere residents, but are coming with plans to provide employment to their fellow occupants. The couple will cultivate spirulina (an algae fast becoming a popular health drug ingredient) near the home. With Gohil, they have in fact sowed the seed of this initiative by registering a company to run the project professionally but for a noble cause.

  Aging in the LGBT community: Growing older in a hostile environment
By Amy Coxt, San Diego Gay & lesbian News, Fri, 06/25/2010 - 9:31am
Dignity is a word people like to use when talking about the elderly. People “age with dignity” and “die with dignity.” What happens, though, when a member of the LGBT community ages? Is there any dignity in being an elderly LGBT American? Imagine trying to feel dignified when the state makes your decisions for you. Imagine clinging to your dignity when the government takes away your property, your partner and your life.

  Getting on With Life After a Partner Dies
By By JANE E. BRODY, Published: June 14, 2010
For the 30th year in a row now, the Saloon will block off Hennepin Avenue at 9th Street on the last Sunday night of Pride. It is the longest-running outdoor party in the history of the Twin Cities festival, which this year celebrates its 38th anniversary. This time around, Anderson and Moore are expecting about 3,000 guests. It’s the biggest event of the year for the Downtown gay bar — “Like New Year’s Eve times a thousand,” says Anderson. While the Saloon isn’t the oldest gay bar in the city — the 19 Bar, just off of Loring Park, holds that title, having welcomed homosexuals since the 50s — its owners lay claim to another, perhaps more significant, first. Anderson and Moore are amongst the area’s first openly gay, gay bar owners.

  Grandfathers of Pride
By Gregory J. Scott - Minneapolis Downtown Journal, June 21 2010
For the 30th year in a row now, the Saloon will block off Hennepin Avenue at 9th Street on the last Sunday night of Pride. It is the longest-running outdoor party in the history of the Twin Cities festival, which this year celebrates its 38th anniversary. This time around, Anderson and Moore are expecting about 3,000 guests. It’s the biggest event of the year for the Downtown gay bar — “Like New Year’s Eve times a thousand,” says Anderson. While the Saloon isn’t the oldest gay bar in the city — the 19 Bar, just off of Loring Park, holds that title, having welcomed homosexuals since the 50s — its owners lay claim to another, perhaps more significant, first. Anderson and Moore are amongst the area’s first openly gay, gay bar owners.

  We’re Here. We’re Queer. We’re Retiring.
by Linda SternMay 26, 2010
As America’s gay population ages, LGBT seniors are opting to retire among their own.
The last place lesbians and gays want to go when they retire is back into the closet. Just like the larger population, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) seniors want to settle into comfortable, low-maintenance homes in welcoming and affordable communities. “There are estimated to be up to 6 million LGBT baby boomers, and 1 [million] to 3 million over the age of 65,” says Jan Cullinane, coauthor with Cathy Fitzgerald of The New Retirement: The Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life.

To meet the demands of America’s aging gay population, developers are targeting the LGBT market with everything from active-adult rental apartments to retirement communities that promise lifelong care.

  'Open Door' spells freedom for gay senior citizens
by Brian Byrnes, CNN May 18, 2010
Buenos Aires, Argentina (CNN) -- Despite what has traditionally been regarded as a macho culture, Argentina has been viewed in recent years as a leader on gay rights issues in Latin America. During the past year Argentina has also taken steps to assist an often overlooked sector of the world's gay population: senior citizens. Situated behind the tall, wooden doors of a century-old building in Buenos Aires, the Puerta Abierta ("Open Door") center is Latin America's first community center for gay senior citizens.

  Sex, Romance, and Relationships: AARP Survey of Midlife and Older Adults
by: Linda Fisher, AARP Knowledge Management, May 2010
AARP commissioned a survey on sexual attitudes and practices among the 45+ population in August 2009, similar to earlier surveys conducted in 1999 and 2004. Results show that the sexual revolution continues in the older population as Boomers continue to age.

• 8% of men and 2% of women have a same-sex partner.
• 29% of men want their partners to initiate sex more often.
• 20% of men have oral sex at least once a week.
• 45% of men think of sex at least once a day.
• 64% have never discussed their sexual fantasies with their partners.
• 73% of men in their 50s say they have an orgasm every time they have sex.

  Addressing the Needs of Gay Seniors
by Steve Weinstein, EDGE Editor-In-Chief, Tuesday May 4, 2010
After years of being ignored, gay seniors are getting a hearing at last. On Wednesday, April 28, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) joined experts in geriatrics to discuss new legislation to meet the unique needs of older LGBT Americans.

  It's About Time
IN THE LIFE explores what it means to grow old as a gay person in America - how a generation once at the frontlines of establishing the modern LGBT movement finds, in what should be their golden years, new challenges living life openly gay. IT'S ABOUT TIME highlights the leaders spearheading a national effort to protect the rights of LGBT senior citizens and care for our elders.

  The Graying of Gay America
by Matt Comer April 17, 2010
It’s the graying of America. Millions of Baby Boomers, folks as young as 50 or older, are retiring. They’re living longer than their fathers and mothers. They’re still healthy, active and involved .LGBT Baby Boomers are having intense debates about the same issues facing their straight peers. Their concerns for the future, and especially for equitable treatment and care, are increasingly getting respect and consideration from national groups like the AARP and local groups as well.

  Sonoma Co. Separates Elderly Gay Couple, Auctions Their Possessions
By Rod McCullom, Rod 2.0
Seventy-seven-year-old Clay and his 88-year-old partner Harold lived in Sonoma County, California and had been together 20 years. Although they had wills, powers of attorney and medical directives, none of that mattered once Harold was hospitalized. County and health care workers refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes. Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Then without authority..the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings.

  The lot of the LGBT elder
By Leslie Robinson April 17, 2010
As if arthritis and profuse nose hair weren’t enough. Aging is already loaded with physical and emotional challenges. Now we hear that LGBT elders face a distinct set of burdens in addition. It gives growing old all the appeal of a colostomy bag. Called the first major collaboration between LGBT groups and mainstream organizations for the elderly, a report called “Improving the Lives of LGBT Older Adults” lays out the problems LGBT seniors face and offers recommendations.

  Back into the closet: gays find few friends in aged care
By Jessica MAHAR April 17, 2010, Sydney Morning Herald
David Urquhart would rather ''swing from the ginkgo tree in the back yard'' than go into a nursing home. The scant acknowledgment of the need for gay-friendly aged-care services worries the 71-year-old photographer, who says he is scared about what the future holds for him. Mr Urquhart lost touch with his family after he came out in 1968, and, without a partner, he wonders what will happen to him if he needs to be cared for or to give someone power of attorney.''Sometimes my mind does run to those things,'' he said. ''I think, here I am on my own, who would I turn to?''He wants to see anti-homophobia training in aged-care services, and advocacy services for gay seniors.

  Obama gives gay partners equal healthcare rights
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • April 16, 2010 - 14:10
US President Barack Obama has ordered almost all hospitals to give gay partners equal rights in visiting and making decisions for their loved ones. He has instructed his Health and Human Services secretary to draft rules requiring all hospitals which receive Medicare and Medicaid payments to give patients to the right to choose who can visit them and make decisions for them if they are unable to. This means that gay couples can be treated in the same way as a husband and wife at such hospitals.

  Palm Springs Considers Senior Home Next to Gay Nude Resort
By Advocate.com Editors, March 23, 2010
The Palm Springs Architectural Advisory Committee recommended plans Monday to build an assisted living facility next door to the Canyon Club Hotel, one of the Southern California city's gay-owned and -operated clothing-optional resorts.According to the Mercury-News,developers with Tappan Enterprises say they hope to break ground this year on the 190-bed facility. The building will include a public beauty parlor and day spa.

  Gay seniors face futures that include discrimination
By Reid Forgravem, DesMoines Register, March 16, 2010
Dr. Loren Olson nervously clutches a lectern at Des Moines University. It's lunchtime at the osteopathic medicine school, and students filter into the lecture hall to listen to Olson talk about a book he's writing. The 66-year-old could almost be a grandfather to these students: sweater vest and thinning white hair, ample belly and friendly laugh. The book's title is scrawled behind him: "Finally Out: Unlocking the Closet in Mid-life and Beyond." It's filled with psychiatric research on mature gay men who come out later in life, a subject Olson - a semi-retired psychiatrist who lives on a farm near St. Charles - knows plenty about. The members of this group are increasingly visible, but their situation is vastly different than that of younger gays. Gay seniors, after all, didn't grow up in a society at all accepting of homosexuality, and some who have been out for decades are now encountering discrimination when they move into nursing homes.

  A booklet for the ages
By Andie Noonan, Sydney Star Observer, Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Getting older often presents health complications, but for people ageing with HIV there is now some help at hand. A new booklet, Ahead of Time: A Practical Guide for Growing Older with HIV, has been released by the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) this month to give some timely advice on the complex medical issues older people living with HIV face. The booklet lists service care providers aware of the issues, along with easy-to-read information about new medical and social challenges and the best ways to maintain ongoing health.