In 2011 the first of the baby boomers will begin turning 65, and by 2030, it is estimated that the country's elder population will have ballooned to 72.1 million people. Although accurate numbers are hard to come by, LGBT groups estimate that at the height of this aging boom there will be anywhere from 2 to 7 million LGBT elders living in the United States. Yet little attention has been paid to addressing the needs of aging LGBT people. For much of the last three decades, the gay community's focus has been consumed with battling the AIDS epidemic and winning basic legal rights. End-of-life issues have gotten scant notice.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) have just released Outing Age 2010: Public Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Elders, an update to the Task Force’s groundbreaking Outing Age report issued in 2000. Like its predecessor, Outing Age 2010 presents an in-depth look at public policy issues and challenges facing millions of aging LGBT people in the United States.

The nation’s largest LGBT newspaper publisher shut down this week, taking with it the oldest gay paper in the country and several other LGBT publications. Window/Unite Media LLC announced Monday that it was closing down and immediately ceasing operations of its six subsidiaries, including the Washington Blade, which has served the D.C. community for 40 years. In addition to the Blade, Window also owned the 20-year-old Southern Voice, the South Florida Blade, David Atlanta, 411 Magazine and Houston Voice, which two years ago ceased printing and transitioned to an online publication.

It’s been just under ten months since Barack Obama took the oath of office. So why isn’t America a shiny, lavender-hued Shangri-La where LGBTs serve openly in the military, same sex marriage is the law of the land, AIDS funding has grown to meet actual needs, and heterosexuals erupt in applause as you swish your way down the street?

Reed Cowan’s reasons for making a film about the Mormon church’s activism against gay marriage in California are personal. Himself gay and Mormon, Cowan clashed with his family over his sexual orientation and the beliefs of their faith, but it was a conversation between him and a sibling about her support of Proposition 8 cemented his commitment to make the film: "8: The Mormon Proposition."

The City of Chicago, which hosts the only known government-backed Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in the world, held its 19th annual induction ceremony Nov. 12 at the Cultural Center. Mayor Richard Daley, who has attended almost every induction event, was in good spirits as he spoke to the crowd about the importance of the LGBT community to the overall city of Chicago, as well as the need for LGBT civil rights and marriage. Commission on Human Relations Chairman Dana Starks spoke primarily against the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, with the Hall of Fame coming the day after Veteran's Day.

Will Phillips isn't like other boys his age. For one thing, he's smart. Scary smart. A student in the West Fork School District in Washington County, he skipped a grade this year, going directly from the third to the fifth. When his family goes for a drive, discussions are much more apt to be about Teddy Roosevelt and terraforming Mars than they are about Spongebob Squarepants and what's playing on Radio Disney.

Same-sex marriage bill, as written, called a threat to social service contracts. The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

The health care bill passed by the House of Representatives over the weekend eliminates a tax penalty for same-sex couples who receive health benefits from employers, but whether the final legislation will include the provision is another story.

Legalization could avert doomed relationships, straight ex-spouses say. If anyone could have talked himself out of being gay, Kimberly Brooks said, it was her husband. He wanted to be straight; she wanted him to be straight. She once followed his gaze across the beach to another man but quickly dismissed the thought. No, he couldn't be. Then he started spending more time with one particular friend, and an unease pushed Brooks to ask the question that ultimately confirmed her fears: Was that friend gay?