Retiring in Palm Springs, California as an LGBTQIA+ Older Adult

Living Out is an independent-living apartment community in Palm Springs for active LGBTQIA+ adults aged 55 and over, and their allies. It is a market-rate community rather than an affordable one, and it is designed around the idea that residents should not have to edit themselves to feel comfortable where they live. Residences run from roughly 1,098 to 1,831 square feet, finished to condominium standard, with weekly apartment cleaning included. This is independent living only: there is no assisted living, memory care or skilled nursing on site, so residents who later need daily personal care arrange it privately or move. The amenity list is unusually extensive for a community of this size. It includes the Alice B. Restaurant, Gertie's Salon and Bar, a fitness center, a swimming pool and spa, a fenced dog park, a bocce ball court, a putting green, a screening room and a desert oasis garden area. Hair, manicure, pedicure and massage services are available on site, and a full-time activities director coordinates social events and outings. The community publishes pricing as starting at under $5,000 a month and reported a small number of remaining residences at the time of our review. Both figures move, so confirm current pricing and availability directly.

Inclusive features: Pets welcome

Stonewall Gardens is an assisted-living community in Palm Springs, California, built specifically for LGBTQIA+ older adults and their friends. It is one of a small number of purpose-built affirming assisted-living communities in the United States, and the community describes its work as supporting compassionate, graceful aging in an environment that is welcoming, supportive and respectful. The community sits on North Palm Canyon Drive with views toward the San Jacinto mountains, and care staff are on site 24 hours a day. Day-to-day support covers the usual assisted-living range: help with bathing, dressing and other activities of daily living, medication management, and coordination with hospice when a resident's needs change. Stonewall Gardens describes its approach as person-centered, which in practice means residents are expected to keep their own routines, relationships and way of living rather than fit an institutional schedule. For many LGBTQIA+ elders that is the whole question, because going back into the closet to feel safe in care is a common and well-documented fear. The community is licensed by California as a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, license number 336426505, which you can look up yourself through the California Department of Social Services. Tours are arranged by appointment and a live virtual tour is available.

Inclusive features: Pets welcome