A Turning Point

Maine Coastline

The purpose of a sabbatical is to give one time to rest, reflect, travel and do research.  We've been on the road for three months and have three months left to travel so we're at a turning point.  Yesterday we left Maine and the point of the trip where we were the greatest distance from our starting point, our home in San Diego.  We've put on 10,000 miles, seen some incredibly beautiful sites and met many wonderful people along the way.  For the last week or so, I've been collecting my thoughts about my research work.  It seems preliminary to make any strong statements halfway through the trip but I do have three things that are churning in my brain that I'd like to share.  

First, it seems that the work being done to support housing for LGBT is focused in urban areas.  This is no great surprise but it does make me wonder about the work that needs to be done for LGBT in smaller cities, towns and rural areas.  About 70% of my survey data has come from LGBT living in urban areas.  I hope to increase the data from non-urban areas as we cut across the northern tier of the US, heading for Seattle.  

Second, LGBT-only or gay-friendly housing in urban areas has been developed or is being developed with the notion that we want to live separately.  One of the reasons for this separateness is because we don't believe we can be out of the closet in general population senior housing communities.  Certainly, we've all heard about this issue and know it is a possibility.  However, the data I've collected so far indicates that most of us would prefer to live in senior housing that is welcoming and accepting of LGBT, and not LGBT only.   There is a disconnect here that may have to do with the age and socioeconomic status of my subjects.  

Third, many independent and assisted living communities want to know how to welcome us and make us feel accepted.  They are asking for help but don't seem to know where or how to get that help.  We can't assume that the reason they aren't hanging out a rainbow flag is because they don't want us.  There is so much work that needs to be done with these facilities but so little is being done to assist them.  Why?  I've got some thoughts on this but will save it for a later post.