as supervisor wiener said, i'm amie wailen and work for the national center for lez biben rights chblt nclr [inaudible] as we have repeatedly learned lgbt seniors are particularly at risk for isolation and early institutionization. this is because they are more likely than their straight counter parts to be single and live alone and not have childrens fwauz seniors tend to rely on families of choice composed of family or friends rb problems arise. friends and love ones not related by blood our marriage lack legal institution. problems can quickly get worse because institution teend refer to those relatives ovother people. many seniors also fear discrimination by service providers. lgbt seniors grew up in a time of extreme discrimination and biases. in the 1950 and 60 thousands of gay and lesbian employees lost their jobs. [inaudible] thought to have severe mental illness. many people were forces into mental institutions or subjected to conversion therapy in a effect to cure cume. by the time the aids epidemic hit in the 1980's the u.s. government ignoreed the crisis forcing lgbt people