II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2089 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide equal treatment 

of LGBT older individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, and 

Mr. FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide 

equal treatment of LGBT older individuals, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘LGBT Elder Ameri5 cans Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Older Ameri8 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (24)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 

4 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) status as an LGBT individual.’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating— 

8 (A) paragraphs (36) through (54) as para9 graphs (38) through (56), respectively; and 

10 (B) paragraphs (34) and (35) as para11 graphs (35) and (36), respectively; 

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(34) The term ‘LGBT’, used with respect to 

15 an individual, means a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 

16 transgender individual.’’; and 

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (36), as so re18 designated, the following: 

19 ‘‘(37) The term ‘minority’, used with respect to 

20 an individual, includes a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 

21 transgender individual.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

23 215(e)(1)(J) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

24 U.S.C. 3020e–1(e)(1)(J)) is amended by striking ‘‘minori25 ties’’ and inserting ‘‘minority individuals’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION ON AGING. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADMINISTRATION.—Section 

3 201 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) 

4 is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (d)(3)(J), by inserting before 

6 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including the effec7 tiveness of such services in meeting the needs of 

8 LGBT older individuals’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(g) The Assistant Secretary is authorized to des11 ignate within the Administration a person to have respon12 sibility for addressing issues affecting LGBT older individ13 uals.’’. 

14 (b) FUNCTIONS OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—Section 

15 202 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3012) 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (16)(A)(ii), by inserting 

19 ‘‘, and separately specifying the number of such 

20 individuals who are LGBT individuals’’ before 

21 the semicolon; 

22 (B) in paragraph (30), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

23 and inserting a semicolon; 

24 (C) in paragraph (31), by striking the pe25 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

26 (D) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(32) conduct studies and collect data to deter2 mine the services that are needed by LGBT older in3 dividuals.’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(h)(1) The Assistant Secretary shall, directly or by 

6 grant or contract, establish and operate the National Re7 source Center on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgen8 der Aging (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Center’). 

9 ‘‘(2) To address the unique challenges faced by 

10 LGBT older individuals, the Center shall provide national, 

11 State, and local organizations, including those with a pri12 mary mission of serving LGBT individuals and those with 

13 a primary mission of serving older individuals, with the 

14 information and technical assistance the organizations 

15 need to effectively serve LGBT older individuals. 

16 ‘‘(3) The Center shall have 3 primary objectives, con17 sisting of— 

18 ‘‘(A) educating aging services organizations 

19 about the existence and special needs of LGBT older 

20 individuals; 

21 ‘‘(B) sensitizing LGBT organizations about the 

22 existence and special needs of older individuals; and 

23 ‘‘(C) providing educational resources to LGBT 

24 older individuals and their caregivers. 


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1 ‘‘(4)(A) To be eligible to receive funds under this sub2 section, an entity— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall have demonstrated expertise in work4 ing with organizations or individuals on issues af5 fecting LGBT individuals; 

6 ‘‘(ii) shall have documented experience in pro7 viding training and technical assistance on a na8 tional basis or a formal relationship with an organi9 zation that has that experience; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) shall meet such other criteria as the As11 sistant Secretary shall issue. 

12 ‘‘(B) To be eligible to receive funds under this sub13 section, an entity shall submit an application to the Assist14 ant Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con15 taining such information as the Assistant Secretary may 

16 require. 

17 ‘‘(5) The Assistant Secretary shall make available to 

18 the Center on an annual basis such resources as are nec19 essary for the Center to carry out effectively the functions 

20 of the Center under this Act and not less than the amount 

21 of resources made available to the National Resource Cen22 ter on LGBT Aging, existing on the day before the date 

23 of enactment of the LGBT Elder Americans Act of 2017, 

24 for fiscal year 2017. 


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1 ‘‘(6) The Assistant Secretary shall develop and issue 

2 operating standards and reporting requirements for the 

3 Center.’’. 

4 (c) REPORTS.—Section 207 of the Older Americans 

5 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3018) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting ‘‘LGBT 

7 individuals,’’ after ‘‘low-income individuals,’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, and 

10 separately specify the number of such individ11 uals who are LGBT individuals’’ before the 

12 semicolon; 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 

14 (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(4) the effectiveness of such activities in as18 sisting LGBT individuals;’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(d) The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that— 

21 ‘‘(1) no individual will be required to provide in22 formation regarding the sexual orientation or gender 

23 identity of the individual as a condition of partici24 pating in activities or receiving services under this 

25 Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) no agency or other entity providing activi2 ties or services under this Act that receives, for the 

3 purposes of this Act, information regarding the sex4 ual orientation or gender identity of an individual 

5 will disclose the information in any form that would 

6 permit such individual to be identified. 

7 ‘‘(e) The Assistant Secretary shall develop appro8 priate protocols, demonstrations, tools, or guidance for use 

9 by State agencies and area agencies on aging, to ensure 

10 successful implementation of data collection requirements 

11 under section 201(d)(3)(J), paragraphs (16)(A)(ii) and 

12 (29) of section 202(a), subsections (a)(3), (c)(1), and 

13 (c)(4), and section 307(a)(6), relating to LGBT individ14 uals. 

15 ‘‘(f) The Assistant Secretary shall determine when 

16 the data collection requirements described in subsection 

17 (e) shall apply, taking into consideration the complexity 

18 and importance of each requirement, but each requirement 

19 shall apply not later than 1 year after the date of enact20 ment of the LGBT Elder Americans Act of 2017.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR STATE AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS 

22 ON AGING. 

23 Section 301(a)(2) of the Older Americans Act of 

24 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3021(a)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub4 paragraph (G); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(F) organizations that serve LGBT indi8 viduals; and’’. 

9 SEC. 5. ACTIVITIES FOR HEALTH, INDEPENDENCE, AND 

10 LONGEVITY. 

11 Section 411(a)(11) of the Older Americans Act of 

12 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3032(a)(11)) is amended to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(11) conducting activities of national signifi15 cance to promote quality and continuous improve16 ment in the support and services provided to individ17 uals with greatest social need, through activities that 

18 include needs assessment, program development and 

19 evaluation, training, technical assistance, and re20 search, concerning— 

21 ‘‘(A) addressing physical and mental 

22 health, disabilities, and health disparities; 

23 ‘‘(B) providing long-term care, including 

24 in-home and community-based care; 


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1 ‘‘(C) providing informal care, and formal 

2 care in a facility setting; 

3 ‘‘(D) providing access to culturally respon4 sive health and human services; and 

5 ‘‘(E) addressing other gaps in assistance 

6 and issues that the Assistant Secretary deter7 mines are of particular importance to older in8 dividuals with greatest social need.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. DATA ON DISCRIMINATION. 

10 Section 712 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 

11 U.S.C. 3058g) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

13 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 

14 through (J) as subparagraphs (G) through (K); 

15 and 

16 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(F) collect and analyze data, relating to 

19 discrimination against LGBT older individuals 

20 on the basis of actual or perceived sexual ori21 entation or gender identity in the admission to, 

22 transfer or discharge from, or lack of adequate 

23 care provided in long-term care settings, and 

24 shall include the analyses in the reports de25 scribed in subsection (h)(1);’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (h)(6), in the matter pre2 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) through 

3 (G)’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) through (H)’’. 

Æ 


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