Four Points is a senior center in Grand Haven. Their mission is “To promote the vitality, independence and well-being of older adults in the North Ottawa County community by providing needed services and information, encouraging recreation and lifelong learning and advocating for solutions to issues of aging.” They offer fitness and recreation classes such as chair aerobics, art with joy, and bridge, as well as assistance with navigating Medicare/Medicaid and prescriptions programs. They also offer seniors restaurant-style meals through a discount dining program.
The discount dining program is part of a federally subsidized nutrition program administrated by Age Well Services, and in order for seniors (age 60+) to eat there, they need to disclose their sexual orientation. Prior to participating in the dining program, they first fill out a registration form and later receive a membership card in the mail. After filling out standard name/address type information, the form asks about gender: male, female, other, prefer not to say, or no response/unknown. Next the form asks seniors if they consider themselves transgender or gender non-conforming. Then there are questions about veteran status, income, ethnicity, etc., which is followed by asking about sexual orientation. Possible responses include straight/heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, prefer not to say, other, no response/unknown.
It is important for seniors to continue being active in the community, but why should they be required to divulge this type of personal information in exchange for meal discounts? The answers to these questions are completely irrelevant when someone is hungry. They are intrusive, embarrassing, and no more appropriate when asked to people ages 60 and over than they are when asked to 12-year-olds like in the Youth Assessment Survey.