LGBTQIA+ Older Adult Survey Report

By 2030, just a few years from now, nearly 10 million Californians will be 60 years of age or older¹. Approximately 5% of these mid-life and older adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or sexual and/or gender minority (LGBTQIA+)², yet we know relatively little about their health and wellbeing. What we do know suggest significant health disparities—disparities that are difficult, if not impossible, to address without more comprehensive, accurate data.

To begin filling these data gaps, the California Department of Aging (CDA) spearheaded the first statewide survey to explore the current and future health and wellbeing of California’s mid-life and older LGBTQIA+ population. This 2024 baseline survey, From Challenges to Resilience, aligns with the goals of California’s Master Plan for Aging, a blueprint for state and local governments and their philanthropic and private-sector partners to prepare for California’s growing population of older adults.

¹ California Department of Finance
² UCLA School of Law Williams Institute

• A team of researchers from CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Berkeley, the University of California San Francisco, Openhouse and the Center for Advanced Study of Aging Services at UC Berkeley designed and administered the survey.
• CDA provided funding for the survey.
• The survey collected responses from January 8, 2024, to March 31, 2024.
• Questions were available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Chinese.
• Eligible respondents were:
  • a self-identified member of the LGBTQIA+ community
  • at least 50 years of age
  • a California resident
• Over 4,000 individuals from across every Census region in California responded to the survey.

• Press Release
• Summary Document
• Final Report

CDA intends to make deidentified state-level survey data available via an interactive data tool. The CDA will follow data-deidentification guidelines established by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) to ensure the privacy of survey respondents and to prevent the disclosure of personal information.

• Data tool is currently under construction