I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1777 

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

of LGBT older individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. CRIST, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. HAALAND, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

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 ‘‘Ruthie and Connie 

5 LGBT Elder Americans Act of 2019’’. 

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— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (24)— 

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

3 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

5 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

8 (2) by redesignating— 

9 (A) paragraphs (36) through (54) as para10 graphs (38) through (56), respectively; and 

11 (B) paragraphs (34) and (35) as para12 graphs (35) and (36), respectively; 

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (33) the fol14 lowing: 

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

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

17 transgender individual.’’; and 

18 (4) by inserting after paragraph (36), as so re19 designated, the following: 

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

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

22 transgender individual.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

24 215(e)(1)(J) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 


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1 U.S.C. 3020e–1(e)(1)(J)) is amended by striking ‘‘minori2 ties’’ and inserting ‘‘minority individuals’’. 

3 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION ON AGING. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADMINISTRATION.—Section 

5 201 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3011) 

6 is amended— 

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

8 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including the effec9 tiveness of such services in meeting the needs of 

10 LGBT older individuals’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(g) The Assistant Secretary is authorized to des13 ignate within the Administration a person to have respon14 sibility for addressing issues affecting LGBT older individ15 uals.’’. 

16 (b) FUNCTIONS OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—Section 

17 202 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3012) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

21 ‘‘, and separately specifying the number of such 

22 individuals who are LGBT individuals’’ before 

23 the semicolon; 

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

25 and inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (C) in paragraph (31), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(32) conduct studies and collect data to deter5 mine the services that are needed by LGBT older in6 dividuals.’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(g)(1) The Assistant Secretary shall, directly or by 

9 grant or contract, establish and operate the National Re10 source Center on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and 

11 Transgender Aging (in this subsection referred to as the 

12 ‘Center’). 

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

14 LGBT older individuals, the Center shall provide national, 

15 State, and local organizations, including those with a pri16 mary mission of serving LGBT individuals and those with 

17 a primary mission of serving older individuals, with the 

18 information and technical assistance the organizations 

19 need to effectively serve LGBT older individuals. 

20 ‘‘(3) The Center shall have 3 primary objectives, con21 sisting of— 

22 ‘‘(A) educating aging services organizations 

23 about the existence and special needs of LGBT older 

24 individuals; 


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1 ‘‘(B) sensitizing LGBT organizations about the 

2 existence and special needs of older individuals; and 

3 ‘‘(C) providing educational resources to LGBT 

4 older individuals and their caregivers. 

5 ‘‘(4)(A) To be eligible to receive funds under this sub6 section, an entity— 

7 ‘‘(i) shall have demonstrated expertise in work8 ing with organizations or individuals on issues af9 fecting LGBT individuals; 

10 ‘‘(ii) shall have documented experience in pro11 viding training and technical assistance on a na12 tional basis or a formal relationship with an organi13 zation that has that experience; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) shall meet such other criteria as the As15 sistant Secretary shall issue. 

16 ‘‘(B) To be eligible to receive funds under this sub17 section, an entity shall submit an application to the Assist18 ant Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con19 taining such information as the Assistant Secretary may 

20 require. 

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

22 the Center on an annual basis such resources as are nec23 essary for the Center to carry out effectively the functions 

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

25 of resources made available to the National Resource CenVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:54 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1777.IH H1777

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1 ter on LGBT Aging, existing on the day before the date 

2 of enactment of the Ruthie and Connie LGBT Elder 

3 Americans Act of 2017, for fiscal year 2018. 

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

5 operating standards and reporting requirements for the 

6 Center.’’. 

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

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

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

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

11 (2) in subsection (c)— 

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

13 separately specify the number of such individ14 uals who are LGBT individuals’’ before the 

15 semicolon; 

16 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 

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

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

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(4) the effectiveness of such activities in as21 sisting LGBT individuals;’’; and 

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

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

24 ‘‘(1) no individual will be required to provide in25 formation regarding the sexual orientation or gender 


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1 identity of the individual as a condition of partici2 pating in activities or receiving services under this 

3 Act; and 

4 ‘‘(2) no agency or other entity providing activi5 ties or services under this Act that receives, for the 

6 purposes of this Act, information regarding the sex7 ual orientation or gender identity of an individual 

8 will disclose the information in any form that would 

9 permit such individual to be identified. 

10 ‘‘(e) The Assistant Secretary shall develop appro11 priate protocols, demonstrations, tools, or guidance for use 

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

13 successful implementation of data collection requirements 

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

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

16 (c)(4), and section 307(a)(6), relating to LGBT individ17 uals. 

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

19 the data collection requirements described in subsection 

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

21 and importance of each requirement, but each requirement 

22 shall apply not later than 1 year after the date of enact23 ment of the Ruthie and Connie LGBT Elder Americans 

24 Act of 2017.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR STATE AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS 

2 ON AGING. 

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

4 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3021(a)(2)) is amended— 

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

6 and inserting a semicolon; 

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub8 paragraph (G); and 

9 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(F) organizations that serve LGBT indi12 viduals; and’’. 

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

14 LONGEVITY. 

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

16 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3032(a)(11)) is amended to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(11) conducting activities of national signifi19 cance to promote quality and continuous improve20 ment in the support and services provided to individ21 uals with greatest social need, through activities that 

22 include needs assessment, program development and 

23 evaluation, training, technical assistance, and re24 search, concerning— 

25 ‘‘(A) addressing physical and mental 

26 health, disabilities, and health disparities; 


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

2 in-home and community-based care; 

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

4 care in a facility setting; 

5 ‘‘(D) providing access to culturally respon6 sive health and human services; and 

7 ‘‘(E) addressing other gaps in assistance 

8 and issues that the Assistant Secretary deter9 mines are of particular importance to older in10 dividuals with greatest social need.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. DATA ON DISCRIMINATION. 

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

13 U.S.C. 3058g) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 

15 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 

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

17 and 

18 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

19 the following: 

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

21 discrimination against LGBT older individuals 

22 on the basis of actual or perceived sexual ori23 entation or gender identity in the admission to, 

24 transfer or discharge from, or lack of adequate 

25 care provided in long-term care settings, and 


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1 shall include the analyses in the reports de2 scribed in subsection (h)(1);’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (h)(6), in the matter pre4 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A) through 

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

Æ 


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