For transgender people, finding safe and comfortable housing is a critical need and a significant barrier. Advocates stress that the need for trans-affirming housing isn’t a matter of comfort so much as the difference between life and death.
“Half of all LGBTQIA+ plus older adults live in a state where they can legally be denied housing and public accommodations,” says Sydney Kopp-Richardson, director of SAGE’s National LGBT Elder Housing Initiative, “There’s no federal law prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in housing.” The 2022 Dignity Survey also shows that LGBTQIA+ seniors are far less likely to have familial support, which can be a crucial component of a safe and healthy life for older adults. A little less than half of LGBTQIA+ seniors are single, with cisgender gay men the least likely to be partnered. Additionally, 49% of older LGBTQIA+ people report feeling either extremely or very concerned about having adequate family and/or social support to rely on as they age.
of discrimination against LGBTQIA+ individuals and found that cisgender gay men were less likely to be told about rental units than cisgender heterosexual people and that transgender people were told about evenrental units. Both gay and trans populations were quoted higher prices than their cisgender heterosexual peers. Meanwhile, only 49% LGBTQIA+ older adults are homeowners, as opposed to 62% of cisgender heterosexual seniors.