What Differentiates Older LGBTQ+ Americans From Their Straight Peers

The Minnesota 2022 LGBTQ Aging Needs Assessment Report from the University of Minnesota surveyed hundreds of LGBTQ+ older adults in the state to get insight into the community’s experiences with services, caregiving, discrimination, employment, chosen family, and other metrics describing their lives.
Being the third in a decennial series first undertaken in 2002, the report is an essential and fascinating look at the needs of LGBTQ+ older Americans, including the wave of Baby Boomers now entering retirement and the Silent Generation that preceded them.
The results indicate that “we’ve come a long way, but have much further to go” in addressing the harmful disparities between LGBTQ+ older adults and their straight peers.
According to the study’s principal investigator, Rajean Moon, “In 2002, the study showed only nine percent of LGBTQ+ respondents were confident that they would receive sensitive care. In 2012, that number doubled to 18 percent — keeping in mind that that’s still 82% of the population surveyed that weren’t sure if they would receive safe services. But in 2022, we had 85 percent felt confident that they would receive sensitive care. That is absolutely striking.”
Moone explains his researchers were able to compare results from their study with those from a similar survey of straight older Minnesotans, which revealed LGBTQ+ older Minnesotans were nearly twice as likely to volunteer as their straight counterparts.