LGBTQ older adults navigate life with multiple marginalized identities and unique challenges. Compared to their cisgender and heterosexual peers, LGBTQ elders are twice as likely to live alone, four times less likely to have children, and more likely to experience poverty, homelessness, and poor physical and mental health, according to SAGE, a national advocacy group for LGBTQ elders. Community resources are vital for populations at higher risk for loneliness, isolation, and other challenges.
One new resource coming to Pittsburgh’s queer elder community this year is Mosaic Apartments, an LGBTQ friendly senior living center, set to open in October. All 48 units are dedicated to income-eligible seniors.
The Oakland-based senior living community is the first of its kind in Western Pennsylvania and second in the state. Jim Pieffer, President and CEO of Presbyterian SeniorCare Network, says focus groups with LGBTQ older adults were crucial during the planning phase.
“What we heard from the focus group was: ‘We want a place where we feel welcome, where we don’t feel like we have to re-closet, where we feel accepted.’ And that’s hopefully the environment that we’ll be able to create there,” Pieffer says.
Mosaic Apartments hopes to serve as a national model for LGBTQ senior communities, with culturally competent, specially trained staff, wellness and education programming, and other services to meet community needs. Pieffer anticipates that most residents will either be a member of the LGBTQ community or an ally.
Applications for Mosaic Apartments will open six months prior to occupancy, likely in April or May. More than 120 prospective residents have already expressed interest via an inquiry form.
While Mosaic Apartments will be a novel resource for LGTBQ seniors in Pittsburgh, other established, longstanding services exist. The Persad Center, for example, based in Lawrenceville, serves LGBTQ people of all ages in the region, with dedicated senior programs, as well as mental health services.
“As the second-oldest LGBTQ+ mental health counseling center in the U.S., we’ve been here for the community for 53 years for anyone who needs someone to talk to,” Persad Center CEO Marty Healey tells Pittsburgh City Paper. More than 450 people receive weekly outpatient counseling at the Persad Center, many of whom are seniors.
Every Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon LGBTQ adults age 50 and up, are invited to attend Coffee and Conversations held by OWLS, the senior support group at Persad.
“We try to offer a welcoming, inclusive environment for our seniors to gather, to share things that are important to them, and hear other perspectives from other seniors who are part of the community,” says Healey.
Healey, an LGBTQ older adult himself, says isolation, loneliness, and acceptance are the biggest challenges faced by the community.
“In running the agency for the past four years, [I] know that during the darkest hours of our community, our senior programming stayed vibrant and did nothing but grow,” says Healey.
Additionally, the Persad Center hosts three social support groups for the transgender community, a community food pantry, and, soon, an LGBTQ-specific grief group.
Many older adults, queer or not, struggle after the death of a partner. Yet, “in a world where our community members sometimes — or a lot of times — feel isolated and alone, that grieving becomes all the more accentuated and problematic for them,” explains Healey. In traditional grief support groups, LGBTQ adults may feel othered or misunderstood.
“Some of the nuances of being a member of the LGBTQ+ community are different … The grieving may feel a bit different. And it’s okay if it does,” Healey says. “It’s healthy to find an alternative, and we want to provide that alternative.”
For some, dealing with these challenges has become more trying in their later years.
“With the trans community being so thoroughly vilified by the Republican Party in this last election cycle, all trans people, no matter their age, are at risk like never before,” says Kelly McElhattan, a 68-year-old trans woman living in Shaler Township. “I can’t believe I’m alone in feeling more vulnerable and under threat,” she adds.
“I’m too old to spend the rest of my life fighting the hate this country is drowning in,” McElhattan says. McElhattan is retired, her partner recently passed away and she faces harassment — all of which have led her to consider moving out of the U.S.
Healey acknowledged the struggles LGBTQ older adults continue to face.
“Interestingly enough we’ve had a lot of requests from some of our younger community members to talk to our senior community members,” says Healey. “The younger folks want to talk to the older folks, especially during the tough times right now, hear their experiences and understand what they’ve been through.”
He adds, “Our seniors have been through a great deal of things throughout their lives. And I think right now especially, they’re able to shed light on the hope needed to get through this current time and move forward.”
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2025.
