Isolation an age-old issue for gay seniors

Many aging baby boomers are about to find out some of what gay people have been dealing with for the past few decades.

Aging is too often about isolation; families and friends die, often taking a person's social networks with them.

John Genke, Ty Martin and Emily Vargas, social worker, Harlem program manager and social worker, respectively, for SAGE, Services & Advocacy for Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian and Transgender Elders, said isolation is something gay New Yorkers have been dealing with for years, stoked by twin scourges of homophobia and the AIDS epidemic.

"We started mourning the loss of peers 30 years ago," said Martin, 60. "Now other people outside of the community are starting to bury their parents and deal with that aspect of life."

Even after the Stonewall riots and ACT-UP, New York can still be a lonely place for the gay elderly, many of whom have not told family and friends about their sexual preferences, said Genke, 67.

 Isolation an age-old issue for gay seniors
New York Daily News, NY