LGBTQ+ Elders and Healthcare: How History Shapes Trust Today
Filed Under: Market Research, LGBTQ+, Healthcare
Meagan Carruth
Alum, Quantitative Research
Happy LGBTQ+ History Month! For many older LGBTQ+ Americans, history is not abstract; it is lived experience that continues to shape how they approach health and wellness today. As C+R’s CultureBeat team continues exploring health and wellness within the LGBTQ+ community, we’re examining these distinct healthcare needs and why understanding lived experiences is critical for healthcare providers, communities, and brands.
Historical Challenges & Implications for LGBTQ+ Healthcare
In our early June blog, Pride and Brand Loyalty: How Consistent LGBTQ+ Support Drives Consumer Trust and Spending, we discussed the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and how Pride Month has evolved over the years. Earlier this month, in our blog LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness: Understanding the History Behind the Experience, we discussed the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. Both represent pivotal moments in LGBTQ+ history in the United States, and while these events may feel like distant history, they occurred less than 60 years ago. Many LGBTQ+ Americans today lived through these periods firsthand, and their experiences continue to shape their lives. Although these events have had a lasting impact on the broader LGBTQ+ community, it’s especially important to understand how they have shaped the perspectives, experiences, and healthcare needs of those who lived through them.
Many older LGBTQ+ people navigated a world of intense prejudice in their formative years, leading some to use coded language and attire to identify one another safely. This underground culture was essential for protection against widespread prejudice, discrimination, and the criminalization of same-sex relationships. While the Stonewall Riots of 1969 marked a turning point in the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement, stigma persists today. During the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, LGBTQ+ people lived and died during a period when the healthcare system grossly neglected their needs, often ignoring the plight of those suffering. This abandonment led to immense losses within the community and fostered profound mistrust in healthcare services.
Beyond these pivotal events, social attitudes have also shaped everyday life for older LGBTQ+ adults. After coming out, many faced rejection from their biological families, a reality that has contributed to a lack of traditional familial support and led many to create “chosen families”—close networks of friends and loved ones who provide essential support.
Legal and structural inequalities compounded these challenges. Same-sex marriage was not recognized nationwide in the United States until 2015, so many relationships and families formed before then lacked legal recognition and access to typical spousal benefits. Today, according to SAGE, older LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely to live alone and less likely to have children than their heterosexual, cisgender peers. These differences can increase the need for support outside the immediate family. Yet historical employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and the denial of spousal benefits have left some with fewer financial resources to pay for that care. [1]
That history of exclusion continues to shape how many older LGBTQ+ adults approach long-term care. According to SAGE, 70% of LGBTQ+ older people fear having to hide their identity when seeking elder housing. Organizations such as SAGE address these concerns through advocacy and services for LGBTQ+ elders, including support for non-discrimination policies, staff training, and more inclusive care environments. These efforts can reduce isolation and fear while helping residents feel safe, respected, and valued. [2] [4]
All Americans deserve access to healthcare, and older LGBTQ+ Americans also need culturally competent care. This means recognizing how culture and lived experience shape people’s healthcare needs. For the LGBTQ+ community, this includes understanding how historical discrimination has contributed to mistrust and taking steps to rebuild trust so LGBTQ+ people can access the care they need. [3]
CultureBeat’s POV
Older LGBTQ+ adults’ experiences with healthcare have been shaped not only by aging but also by a lifetime of exclusion. Many came of age when same-sex relationships were criminalized, gender diversity was stigmatized, and revealing their identity could cost them family relationships, employment, housing, or access to care. Many lived through the AIDS epidemic, losing partners and entire social networks while witnessing profound failures by institutions that were supposed to protect them. Even milestones many people take for granted—including marriage equality, legal recognition of partners, and family-building rights—arrived only recently.
These experiences help explain why some LGBTQ+ elders approach healthcare with caution. What can appear to providers as reluctance to disclose personal information or engage with the healthcare system may instead be a rational response to decades of discrimination and invisibility. Trust is not a given; it must be earned.
For brands, this is more than a healthcare issue; it is a human one. Older LGBTQ+ adults represent a population with unique needs and experiences. When brands fail to acknowledge their realities, they reinforce a feeling many LGBTQ+ elders know all too well: that they were never the intended audience.
The opportunity is not simply to market to LGBTQ+ elders during Pride Month to earn their dollars. It is to demonstrate a genuine commitment to inclusion year-round to earn their trust. Brands can start by listening to older LGBTQ+ adults and involving them in research, advisory boards, and product design. They can ensure communications reflect the diversity of aging experiences, including same-sex couples, chosen families, transgender elders with diverse transition experiences, and people aging alone. They can support healthcare providers and community organizations working to create affirming environments and culturally competent care, and they can examine whether their own policies, materials, and customer experiences unintentionally exclude LGBTQ+ individuals.
Ultimately, the brands that will earn trust are those that recognize trust is deeply personal and that historical experiences do not disappear simply because laws or social attitudes have changed. By understanding where LGBTQ+ elders have been, brands can play a meaningful role in shaping a future where every person can age with dignity, respect, and confidence that they will be seen, heard, and cared for.
Source notes
[1] SAGE Old and Bold fact sheet.
[2] SAGE Old and Bold.
[3] Regis College Why Is Cultural Competence Important in Health Care.
[4] SAGE Care.
