Gay Retirees Soon Will Have Their Own
Retirement Community

The Palms of Manasota, a 20-villa complex, is on the drawing boards outside Sarasota, Fla. Bill Laing, who is building the property, is still searching for the right site, but expects to find it soon. He already has received more than 300 inquiries after ads in gay publications such as 10 Percent and the Advocate about "The First Alternative Retirement home."

"There is nothing in the country like this, not one retirement home" for gays and lesbians, says Mr. Laing, who plans to include a permanent-care home for residents unable to cook and handle daily chores. What about heterosexual applicants? "If I get straight people who want to come in, I cannot by law keep them out," he says. "But they must know that it's going to be made up of gay and lesbian people."

Mr. Laing says he is pleasantly surprised about a lack of backlash. "We haven't gotten any homophobic mail. Not any."