Where’s The “T?”

One of my pet peeves is when they say LGBT but it is really just Gays and Lesbians, Forbes just did that.

Will LGBT Retirees End Up Back In The Closet?
Forbes
By David Rae
June 5, 2019

What does your dream retirement look like? Your life experience living as part of the LGBTQ+ community will likely play a role in where you retire, how much money you have to spend in retirement, and even your healthcare needs as you age.  Sadly, homophobia may put a damper on part of your gay retirement plan.  It might even drive some part of the community back into the closet as we get older.

A few years back, I wrote ‘Who will care for LGBT Seniors” which very lightly touched on some of the financial issues facing the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender retirees.  As if planning for retirement wasn’t daunting enough, we as a group face some additional retirement hurdles.

Since then, I’ve met people who’ve gone back into the closet after entering retirement communities.  Others living in fear of what will happen to them once their “family” is no longer able to keep an eye on them. Many may wonder if they will be able to afford Long Term Care, and if they will ever actually need it. All of this on top of the fear of ‘getting old’ which many of us are working hard to ensure this process happens as slows as possible. I’ve heard many gay men joke  that they are suffering from Peter Pan syndrome (I don’t wanna grow up….)

STOP right there!

I did a search of the article and the only time transgender was mentioned in “Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender retirees” and there was no mention at all of transphobia… Zip, Nada, Zilch

Previously I’ve written that Gay Married Couples make more that Lesbian Couples, who many more than all married couples as a whole.   This is great news, but it may obscure the fact that people in the LGBT community are also more likely to be living in poverty throughout their lives. Think of it as a barbel- many are doing great at the top, and many are not doing well at the bottom.

Since the title of the article is LGBT… how about something about how much trans people make?

As a gay financial planner, the intricacies of LGBT healthcare are beyond my expertise… 

Yeah, well I think the whole article is “beyond my expertise.”

Homophobia is still an issue in retirement communities.  Many LGBT retirees have ended up back in the closet as they age…

Well that is all nice if you are gay you can hide, but many trans person are always out we are always facing transphobia while you hide. We were out in the frontlines at Stonewall where a bunch of drag queens doing a Rockettes kick line… but we got pushed aside to make it a “Gay” movement.

What is your plan to be fiscally fabulous in retirement?

My plan is to go out doing a Rockettes kick line!

I don’t object to the article what object to is calling it “LGBT” if you just want to talk about what gays and lesbians then title the article according but don’t include us and not even mention us.