The Equality Spotlight Episode 3: ‘Aging with Pride’ and Bonus Interview Content from Our Partners

Welcome back to The Equality Spotlight, our new video series highlighting the incredible work being done by Grindr for Equality and LGBTQ+ organizations and activists around the world.

This week, we’re excited to present our newest episode, “Aging with Pride: LGBTQ+ Seniors and the Fight for Inclusion,” which shines a light on the realities that older LGBTQ+ adults face—particularly around housing and healthcare discrimination—and how advocates on the ground are working to ensure our elders can age with dignity, safety, and joy.

Below is a bonus interview featuring Sydney Kopp-Richardson, Director of SAGE’s National LGBTQ+ Elder Housing Initiative. Sydney shares insights on why queer-affirming senior housing matters, how cultural competency can make all the difference, and what each of us can do to support the elders in our community.

Could you briefly explain what SAGE is and does?‍

“SAGE is the world’s largest organization working to advocate for the safety, the dignity, the rights, and the care for LGBTQ+ elders across the country and across the world. We also, as a result of the acute need that we saw for seniors seeking housing, developed the National Housing Initiative in 2015. Through the National Housing Initiative, we provide technical assistance, consultation, training, public education, and serve as a model for best practices in developing LGBTQ+ affirming affordable senior housing, as well as recommendations and practices for making all housing more affirming.”

When did you first notice that housing issues were hitting LGBTQ+ elders especially hard?‍

“Throughout my career in nonprofit work for the past two decades—in direct service and in community organizing—I’ve always seen patterns of housing disparities that affect our community. But it wasn’t until coming to SAGE that I could really see how disproportionate the rates of financial insecurity and housing insecurity are, and how much historical trauma and medical trauma come into play. It directly impacts how people can live in older age.”

What makes housing ‘affirming’ for LGBTQ+ older adults?‍

“We see a lot of elders going back in the closet when it’s time to enter nursing care or move and they’re worried about how staff or neighbors will treat them. LGBTQ+ affirming housing is about cultivating a space where people can feel safe, affirmed, and build trust in community. That involves not only having a roof over your head, but creating spaces where people can live and thrive and experience joy. It’s also about ensuring that everybody from administrators to care workers has cultural competency and understands the realities our elders have faced.”‍

You mentioned that states can legally deny housing to LGBTQ+ people. How does that shape your advocacy?‍

“27 states can legally deny housing to elders simply for being LGBTQ+, and so this is beyond a crisis of housing affordability—it’s a crisis of justice and dignity. We work on the ground to advocate for more inclusive housing policy, but also to push for cultural change within existing institutions. Because if someone can’t feel safe even seeking support, that isolation and fear compounds all the health and financial barriers they’re already facing.”

How does past trauma—like criminalization and discrimination—affect LGBTQ+ elders today?

“Many were born at a time when it was literally illegal to be gay or trans. People lost jobs, faced widespread bias, or weren’t able to accumulate wealth. That distrust builds over a lifetime. So, even if a space has good intentions, folks think, ‘Why should I trust you?’ Our role is to cultivate that trust and safety so they don’t have to go back in the closet and can receive the care and community support they deserve.”

What can younger LGBTQ+ people do to support their elders more effectively?‍

“We just need to connect. For younger people, sometimes you don’t realize that older LGBTQ+ folks literally fought for us to be able to be out and proud. They’ve faced trauma and discrimination that we might not have experienced. So a first step is just listening—reaching out to elders, volunteering, building relationships, sharing space with them. That intergenerational connection is powerful, and it helps us remember where we come from and why we need to keep pushing for change.”‍

Stay tuned for more from The Equality Spotlight, where we continue to uplift the critical work happening in our global LGBTQ+ community. And if you haven’t already, be sure to watch “Aging with Pride: LGBTQ+ Seniors and the Fight for Inclusion” to see firsthand how grassroots efforts, policy change, and everyday community care can protect and celebrate our elders.