LGBTQ+ older people are in greater need of social services and healthcare than the population at large. Yet they are less likely to access these programs and services because of fear of discrimination or actual discrimination. We’ll dive into an array of critical social service and healthcare benefits, explore the history of why LGBTQ+ older people are not accessing or have not been able to access those programs, especially in the context of COVID-19, and how we are trying to remedy that situation through litigation and policy advocacy. For example, we’ll examine Lambda Legal’s ground-breaking cases that have swung the door open for certain same-sex married couples to finally receive Social Security benefits. We’ll explore the state of long-term care and the challenges of data collection and reporting during COVID-19. We’ll explore the ever-expanding threat of religious exemptions. And we’ll dive into the Older Americans Act and how we are ensuring that more LGBTQ+ older people and older people living with HIV have access to the critical aging services and supports that it funds.

Download CLE materials here