Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Elders Need Our Help

Here’s how you can help SAGE help queer elders this Transgender Awareness Week

Lisa Oakley, a U.S. Army veteran denied health care because she’s a transgender woman. Copyright: Claire Cleveland/CPR News

Thanks to President Joe Biden, the U.S. military has stopped barring transgender people from serving. Transgender military veterans, however, often struggle to receive the lifelong medical care all veterans are entitled to. One trans woman veteran in the news recently was unable to find critical care for months, solely because she is trans. Let me tell you about her and my friend Reggie — gender rebel, Native American, and a military vet who faced a choice between medical care and the closet. As a nation, we need to do much better for all our LGBTQ elders. We’re making progress, but we aren’t there yet. You can help.

Trans woman rejected from dozens of care facilities

Let’s start with 68-year-old Lisa Oakley, a U.S. Army veteran rejected by dozens of long-term care facilities in Colorado. She can’t manage chronic illnesses alone any longer, so like many Americans elders she reached out for help, figuring her veteran status would make things easier. She was wrong, and if she had been less stubborn, she’d be like my friend Reggie, who died alone.