All rights reserved. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+) older adults have unique needs based on experiences related to LGBTQ+ aging across the life course. LGBTQ+ older adults encompasses a large and heterogenous group that spans several generations and cohorts of life experiences: the Silent Generation, the Invisible Generation, the Pride Generation, and the AIDS Generation. The Invisible Generation includes LGBTQ+ older adults who came of age during the Great Depression. 1 Many LGBTQ+ older adults of the Invisible Generation fought during World War II. They remained largely invisible during this time. The Silent Generation includes LGBTQ+ older adults who came of age during McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare of the 1950s. During this time, LGBTQ+ individuals were heavily criminalized and penalized in employment, housing, and social spaces for their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Desegregation was slowly permeating institutions after Brown v. Board of Education; however, de facto segregation also remained. And many places throughout the United States vigorously fought racial integration in schools, clubs, and spaces like bars that provided public spaces where LGBTQ+ individuals could meet. The Pride Generation came of age during an era of tremendous social change. Although some LGBTQ+ leaders like Bayard Rustin held prominent roles in the Civil Rights Movement, most LGBTQ+ individuals were excluded in one way or another because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or the intersection of these positionalities. Organizations like the Gay Liberation Front, the Combahee River Collective, Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) provided new spaces of safety and community amidst exclusion. The AIDS Generation includes individuals who
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults face heightened risks of social isolation, given decades of discrimination. Research on telephone buddy programs with non-LGBT participants have proved predominantly unsuccessful at addressing social isolation and have found the greatest success with same-age matches. However, evidence suggests that LGBT adults may actually benefit from telephone buddy programs and in ways uniquely different from other groups. This article shares lessons learned from 30 participants across a 12-month pilot program that matched LGBT older adults to both LGBT and non-LGBT volunteer callers of various ages. One-third of participants identified as African American or Black. This project employed community-based participatory action research to identify, execute, and evaluate the program. Data includes information from questionnaires and telephone interviews prior to and during the program. In contrast to other research, data here revealed strong support for intergenerational matches. LGBT older adults of color especially benefited from program referrals and matches with/from LGBT adults of color, regardless of age. While the project aimed to capture two groups (LGBT older adults experiencing isolation and volunteer callers), the project revealed a third group: LGBT adults at risk of social isolation. This third group usually emerged among the “volunteer” callers but also identified concerns and risk factors for social isolation. The program also revealed unexpected benefits to both LGBT and non-LGBT volunteers, including less loneliness and a stronger sense of community. This article concludes with recommendations for developing similar programs to reduce social isolation in the LGBT community.
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