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SPEAKER: Got to keep them honest.

SPEAKER: I'm infamous.

SPEAKER: I know he's going to trump that, but--

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: The Saint Paul Park and Recreation Department sponsors a weekly gathering of older gays and lesbians each Tuesday at the Linwood community center. They range in age from 50 to the mid 80s. On this day, about a dozen have gathered to play bridge. In between games, one woman reveals her biggest health concerns as she grows older.

SPEAKER: At my age, major kinds of things happen. And if something significant happened, I would want my physician to know that not only should she talk to my sister, but she should talk to my significant other. And as we age, we talk among ourselves about who's going to be there to provide the care to enable us to live in a non-institutionalized setting, innocent and elderly gay woman. I'm probably not going to be too thrilled with the prospect of being in an institution where some hostile, homophobic nurse's aide is the person responsible for my care.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: Health issues affecting aging Americans have been increasingly addressed over the past 20 years, but an often overlooked group is the aging gay and lesbian population. Society tends to desexualize older adults. And for a group whose identity is defined by sexuality, many find themselves adrift.

JEAN QUAM: I think we tend to have all old men and women sort of blur together. We tend to see all old people as just being old, and frail, and useless and all of our negative stereotypes.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: Dr. Jean Quam is director of the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota. She says older gays and lesbians face many of the same issues confronting all older adults, such as glaucoma, prostate cancer, disability and osteoporosis. But there are some unique circumstances only they face. For instance, when critical decisions must be made concerning long-term care.

JEAN QUAM: We know of situations where two-- for example, two women have been placed in totally different long-term care settings because the family didn't want them to be together and had never approved of the relationship. And this was finally a time that they could intervene. And sometimes the medical profession doesn't pay attention to that.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: Quam says while older gays and lesbians have remained largely unstudied, there's evidence older lesbians were less likely to seek regular medical care for fear of having to tell their doctor of their sexuality. As a result, they as a group are possibly at greater risk of breast and cervical cancer than heterosexual women their same age. Annette Bar-Cohen is the Minnesota Health Department's coordinator of public education for the cancer control section.

ANNETTE BAR-COHEN: Some of the risk factors for breast cancer have to do with estrogen-related activity, and that means not having a pregnancy, not ever having nursed, or having a pregnancy late in life. And those are just-- those are physical issues that raise one's risk.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: The centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named Minnesota one of four states to receive funding for lesbian health access project. The state health department and uptown Minneapolis YWCA are the sponsors. Outreach will be geared toward lesbians aged 50 and older, encouraging them to seek screening for breast and cervical cancer. Bar-Cohen explains a goal of the project is to break some new ground in health research, especially regarding lesbians. Because as a group, they face greater age-related risks than gay men do because of their sexuality.

ANNETTE BAR-COHEN: And try to reconcile whatever misinformation, or stereotypical thinking or whatever might get in the way of good communications. We are looking at trying to develop a list, a directory of lesbian-friendly providers. So I think we do have a ways to go. And I think there are some concrete things we can do. And, you know, I think that the collaboration is going to be very helpful.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: Beyond the physical concerns in medical care lies the emotional health of older gays and lesbians. Research has shown older adults who lead socially active lives are the healthiest. But for many older gays and lesbians, coming of age during a very different sociopolitical era meant a life in the closet.

And though times have changed, they are less apt to believe and trust in the better climate, and therefore are more likely to remain in the closet. As a result, they are less likely to participate in the gay and lesbian community of today. Even so, there are enclaves of active seniors.

SPEAKER 1: I'm sorry, did you lead hearts? Oh, good. I thought I'd read an ace.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: Back at the Linwood community center where the members of the gay-lesbian seniors group are still playing cards, some take time out to talk about the need they have to connect with each other through social groups like this one.

SPEAKER: As you get older and as you're a retired, it's very easy to fall into a habit of staying home and watching TV.

SPEAKER: And I think it's probably true that we're not visible to the younger gay folks. But I think that's also some self-selecting because 30 years ago I might have thought that I was a leader in the gay community. And to people who are 20 years younger than I am, I'm a has-been or worse.

SPEAKER: And this group, by our having the same affinity, somewhat the same struggles, and stories and age span is particularly meaningful to me. There's something here that's very special.

SPEAKER: There must be thousands of older gay and lesbians. We know there are many out there who are alone, who are afraid and have no family, but we don't know how to reach them.

SPEAKER: This is important to me to come and meet friends and be with friends. And sometimes people do make connections, and partner up, and even develop love affairs and who knows what. We're not dead yet. We're going to live.

KAREN LOUISE BOOTHE: And all in the group agree these and the many other concerns faced by them and their peers need to soon be seriously considered by the younger set, particularly gays and lesbians of the baby boom generation who aren't far behind. For the FM news station, this is Karen Louise Boothe. Come back. No, that's fine. Stay there. I'm going to see how you. OK he's trying to calm down.