Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands is committed to welcoming people from diverse backgrounds and life experiences as employees, volunteers and clients. The state of Massachusetts requires staff of all agencies like ours, as well as the staffs of local Councils on Aging, long term care facilities, and home care providers be trained in LGBTQ+ cultural competency.

Cultural competency is the idea that LGBTQ+ older people are as deserving of compassionate eldercare as anyone else. The LGBTQ+ senior population—a sizeable and growing one on the Cape and Islands—has unique needs due to a lifetime of discrimination and harassment.

Despite the legal and regulatory protections offered in Massachusetts, some LGBTQ+ elders are wary or fearful when seeking health care or home-based services. No one should feel the need to re-closet themselves when moving into a 55+ community or assisted living, but some of us do.

Because LGBTQ+ people are twice as likely to age alone and four times less likely to have children, LGBTQ+ elders become caregivers more often than their heterosexual counterparts. Yet, as caregivers, we can face obstacles such as healthcare laws or personnel policies that privilege biological families or a lack of resources for LGBTQ+ specific needs.

While our region boasts numerous welcoming congregations, there are limited secular community supports for LGBTQ+ elders in our area. At this time, only the Chatham Council on Aging is offering regularly scheduled social activities to help strengthen community ties among LGBTQ+ older adults with its monthly dinners, which are attended by residents and non-residents alike. This spring, the Yarmouth Council on Aging hosted an LGBTQ+ Bereavement Group and continues to hold irregular luncheons and other socials. The Orleans Council on Aging holds LGBTQ+ themed activities quarterly throughout the year. On-line support and social groups are available through the LGBTQIA+ Aging Project at the Fenway Institute in Boston; click here to access their offerings and their calendar of LGBTQIA+ events around the state. PFLAG Cape Cod offers support for LGBTQ+ individuals and their families across the lifespan.

Many of the services we provide—like Meals-on-Wheels and the Senior Community Service Employment Program—originate with the Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA). These programs allow older people to have the services and supports that they need to thrive while aging in the community. In 2020, the national advocacy group SAGE successfully advocated for LGBTQ+ inclusion when Congress updated the OAA. Now, state and local aging agencies are required to conduct outreach and engage with the LGBTQ+ community to determine what services are needed and if our needs are being met. In 2021, the Biden administration issued guidance to states that details how to implement the updated OAA when developing their State Plans. To ensure that we receive the services and supports we deserve, we must speak out during the planning processes at every level of government from municipal Councils on Aging to the MA Executive Office of Elder Affairs.