Cooperative Aging

Lesbian NORCs

The New York Times has a story today about another naturally occurring retirement community (NORC):  lesbians aging in communities they formed several decades ago, at a time when the general population was much less welcoming to gays than it is today. Some of these communities now include the (gay) children of original members.  I was struck, however, by the fact that the communities do not permit straight family members to live there as well.  Is such a dogmatic approach necessary?  I guess it's no different than over-55 communities that do not permit younger family members to come live with the residents.

GLBT options

    There is substantial activity in the area of gay and lesbian (GLBT) aging.  For example:

General

    Nina Pratt moderates a Google Group called Graying Gayly and Gracefully that focuses on lesbians living in community as they age.

    Stonewall Communities has various programs in Massachusetts and the Northeast, including the Stonewall Connections member services program that assists members of the Boston area GLBT who wish to age in place.

    The Gay Retirement Guide is a website that has state-by-state links.

Retirement Communities

    My sister Margaret is a lesbian who lives in Vermont with her partner, Mary Carol.  Mary Carol is a big fisherwoman who would love to see them retire to a southeastern state with great fishing.  But my sister will not consider moving anywhere that does not recognize her union with Mary Carol -- which would eliminate three GLBT retirement communities that have been developed in states that are traditional warm-weather retirement magnets: Palms of Manasota and The Resort on Carefree Boulevard in Florida, Carefree Cove in North Carolina, and Rainbow Vision in New Mexico.

    Margaret's position makes sense to me. Retiring in a state that does not recognize gay unions would seem to present aging couples a myriad of potential problems down the road.   So here I'm going to list retirement communities or networks in U.S. states  that do recognize GLBT marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships, and in Canada:

California:

• Rainbow Vision

• Triangle Square
  

Massachusetts:

• Paradise One

• Stonewall Audubon Circle
  

That's all I've gotten to so far -- will do more research later on GLBT retirement alternatives in Oregon, Washington, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, and the District of Columbia.