Often, though, discrimination takes subtler forms. In 2013, for example, the Equal Rights Center conducted 200 matched-pair tests in 10 states (including Missouri) to ascertain whether senior housing facilities were more apt to discriminate against same-sex than opposite-sex married couples.
In about half the tests, the facilities were more likely to discriminate. The testers posing as same-sex spouses were offered fewer rental units, faced higher prices or more burdensome application requirements, or were less likely to hear about financial incentives.
With its written policy, Friendship Village operated more blatantly.
The management declined an interview request. But in a statement, the vice president of its board of directors said that “guided by our Christian faith,” it led “a loving community that wishes only the very best for all people, including Ms. Walsh and Ms. Nance.”
The statement went on to say, “We are taking the matter very seriously. We are prayerfully and thoughtfully reviewing this issue.”
In a number of cities — New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles — L.G.B.T. organizations have helped secure funding for senior housing complexes. Santa Rosa, Calif., is home to an upscale retirement community specifically for gay and lesbian seniors.
But such small-scale efforts can never serve enough of the older gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adults who will need care, Mr. Adams pointed out. To help existing long-term care providers operate more sensitively, Sage has provided training to more than 2,100 organizations to date.
Advocates fear that the progress they’ve made could be undermined by federal actions, however, and by a possibly related slip in public approval.
Source : Nytimes
