This letter was originally published on the SAGE blog.
Dear Friends,
It’s highly unusual for me to send you two messages in two weeks asking you to stand up and advocate for LGBT elders. But these are highly unusual times. We must be prepared to step up to the plate as often as necessary, whether it’s denouncing a plan that would rob millions of older Americans of health insurance, or fighting efforts to make LGBT elders invisible in federally-funded senior services.
Just how effective are those services at supporting LGBT elders? Apparently, the Trump Administration doesn’t want to know the answer, or even want to acknowledge that LGBT elders exist. In fact, they’re proposing to completely erase LGBT elders from the federal government’s annual national survey about elder services.
Our community fought for years to get our elders included in this critically important survey, which helps the government decide how to spend billions of dollars on senior services. And now, with one wave of their wand, the new Administration wants to make our elders disappear from the survey, despite the fact that they have been subjected to discrimination their entire lives and still face discrimination today.
If there’s one thing I know in my heart, it’s that we must be a community that cares about our elders. We refuse to allow them to be cast aside. We refuse to be made invisible by the Trump Administration or anybody else.
Today, caring means fighting back. Fortunately, the law gives the American people the right to weigh in before the federal government takes a drastic step like erasing an entire community of elders. It’s called a “public comment period.” If you care about our LGBT elders, now is the time to act. Step up. Make your voices heard. Submit a comment. Say “NO” to the erasure of LGBT elders by the Trump Administration!
Tell Trump that we refuse to be invisible.
In solidarity,
Michael Adams, CEO
SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders)
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Diverse Elders Coalition.