Despite facing decades of discrimination and living through the horrors of the early years of the AIDS pandemic, LGBTQ seniors have long proved to be resilient. Nevertheless, those experiences have had lasting impacts on their health and mental well-being, with many queer elders struggling with isolation and loneliness.
A survey conducted among San Francisco's LGBTQ senior community found similar results during the COVID-19 pandemic. While most were able to adjust to the various safety protocols local officials imposed to stem the spread of the virus, from mask-wearing to limiting in-person activities, many suffered from depression and felt more alone than ever before.
"I think people are more resilient than I might have expected," said Tom Nolan, a manager of special projects at the San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services.
Nolan, a gay senior himself at 76, said the survey findings point to the need for more mental health services for LGBTQ older adults that are provided in a culturally appropriate manner sensitive to their life experiences.
"The big thing that came through for me was the rates of depression, loneliness, anxiety, and everything. I hope it translates into more funding for agencies that are going to do this work," he said.
Since the beginning of the health crisis there has been no accurate data on the impact of COVID within the LGBTQ community due to myriad issues with the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity demographics, as the Bay Area Reporter has extensively covered. Researchers have tried to extrapolate what they can from the limited SOGI data that is available, while various agencies focused on the LGBTQ community have conducted their own studies into COVID's impacts.
Such was the case with the LGBTQ Aging Research Partnership that formed in San Francisco. It included Nolan; Jesus Guillen, a gay man and long-term HIV survivor who chairs the San Francisco HIV and Aging workgroup for the city's health department; Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., a lesbian who co-founded LGBTQ senior services agency Openhouse; and the nonprofit's former executive director Karyn Skultety, Ph.D., who is bisexual and stepped down this summer due to moving out of state with her family.
They worked with Health Management Associates, a national research organization, to launch the online survey of San Francisco's older LGBTQ residents in February. Half of its $20,000 cost came from the city, with the LGBTQ philanthropic agency Horizons Foundation and the Bob Ross Foundation, created by the late publisher of the B.A.R., both contributing $5,000.
Its focus was on how the survey participants' physical and emotional health had changed due COVID-19 and having to adhere to the stay-at-home mandate imposed last March. It also inquired how well they were able to access needed services.
The findings are based on the 500 people over the age of 50 who answered the initial survey questions as well as a follow up survey with 107 of them conducted in April when most seniors could get vaccinated against the virus. By that point, 94% of the second survey participants had been inoculated.
Nearly 75% of the 500 respondents identified as white, roughly 8% identified as Latino, Latinx or Hispanic, 5% identified as Asian and 4.6% identified as Black or African American, with 2.8% identified as American Indian or Alaska Native. Over 40% of the respondents were between the ages of 65 and 74.
A supermajority, over 92%, identified as lesbian, gay, or homosexual. Almost 4% identified as bisexual, and almost 4% as queer. A total of 10% of the respondents fell into the category of transgender or gender-nonconforming.
Near 20% of the survey participants were able to meet their basic needs with some help, while 9% reported they didn't have enough income to meet their needs. During COVID, the percent of older adults with self-reported symptoms of depression increased to 13.5%, almost three times more than pre-COVID, noted the survey report.
