ΟΙ ΟΜΟΦΥΛΟΦΙΛΟΙ ΤΗΣ ΤΡΙΤΗΣ ΗΛΙΚΙΑΣ 2- ΣΚΩΤΙΑ

Visibility and Voice for Older Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual
and Transgender (LGBT) People in Scotland
Age Concern Scotland was privileged to be invited to the ILGAEurope
conference in Paris in October 2005 and to give a
workshop presentation on older LGBT people. The focus of the
presentation was to highlight the partnership working between
Age Concern Scotland, the Equality Network (policy campaigning
organisation for LGBT people) and the older LGBT policy issues
forum in raising the hitherto hidden and unrecognised needs and
concerns of older LGBT people in Scotland. In the main, these
issues and concerns have been explored from the perspective of
how services should be created and/or mainstreamed to ensure
that older LGBT people are fully included in consultations, policymaking
and service development. An equally important aspect also
relates to the prevalence and impact of ageism on older LGBT
within LGBT communities and that this is given due consideration.
For the purpose of this paper, the focus is on how Age Concern
Scotland has tackled equality and diversity in ageing, in relation
to older LGBT people, and how this approach has led to enduring
partnerships between Age Concern Scotland, older LGBT people
and the wider LGBT organisations in Scotland. Moreover, this
approach proposes an important synergy because it brings
together those with core competences in ageing with the
experiences LGBT individuals and groups.
Age Concern Scotland
Age Concern Scotland is the leading organisation for older
people, age and ageing. Its headquarters are based in Edinburgh
but there are area offices in Glasgow, Lochaber, Inverness,
Aberdeen, Dundee and Dumfries –covering both urban and rural
communities. Our principal activities include policy and
campaigning, information, community development and
research. As a membership organisation, we have some 500 older
people’s groups in membership which provides important
structural means for influencing Age Concern Scotland’s policy
campaigning priorities.
Who are Scotland’s Older People?
When we talk of older people – who do we mean? Is there some
generalised character or accepted norm that we hold when we
think of an older person? Does this therefore obscure individual
difference and lead to unfair treatment? In reality, we all carry
multiple identities – we may define ourselves by our sex, race and
sexual orientation, or by religious belief. Age as an equality
cutting strand is singularly important because age is not static -
we are all getting older and therefore our identities, for example,
the roles we play in society as mothers, spouses, partners, workers
may change in relation to where we are in the life cycle. Similarly,
our self-defined identifies, for example, as a gay man or lesbian
woman may impact differently when older. Recognising the
diversity of Scotland’s older population is therefore a major step
forward in promoting equality in ageing for all older people.
Taking the first steps towards
Age Concern Scotland initiated a meeting with national LGBT
groups and organisations in order to establish a reference group
for discussion of issues relating to older LGBT people. As a first
step, it was important to secure this support from the LGBT sector
in order to maximise on sharing knowledge, understanding and
expertise on older people, ageing and LGBT issues. In particular, it
was essential to be able to work with LGBT organisations so that
inroads could be made to work directly with individual older
people. Three outcomes were therefore sought:
> New Partnerships and Alliances – the setting up of the Older
LGBT Scottish Reference Group was meant to be a short lifeworking
group that offered support, in the first instance to Age
Concern Scotland and could provide access to older LGBT people.
> Forum for Older LGBT People – this initiative was borne out of
discussions with Age concern Scotland and the Equality Network.
The aim was to bring together older LGBT people, many of whom
were strong LGBT activists as well as those that may not have any
affiliations to LGBT organisations or groups. The purpose of the
Forum was to identify and prioritise key policy issues and to
develop appropriate responses which could include initiating new
research or service developments.
> Age Concern Scotland membership – it was deemed
important to actively recruit LGBT organisations into the Age
Concern Scotland membership. Through this means there would be
structural inclusion into policy consultations at national and local
levels affecting older people, but it would also demonstrate that as
an organisation we were fully committed to social inclusion,
including LGBT groups and organisations: a commitment made by
the Board of Trustees of Age Concern Scotland.
Breaking new ground
Baseline research into housing and social care needs of older
LGBT people was prioritised by the older LGBT forum which was
then acted upon by Age Concern Scotland and the Equality
Network. With funding from Communities Scotland research was
commissioned and research findings, along with guidance for older
LGBT people, were published in June 2005. The findings confirmed
immediate and future concerns of older LGBT people, but also raised
important issues about the methodology used, for example:
_ The difficulties of identifying LGBT people over the age of 65
and differentiation between L, G and T for housing and social care
provision;
_ Experience of living with harassment and the fear of abuse;
_ Overriding fear of losing LGBT identity if needing to go into
residential or nursing care which raised mixed views about the
need for specialist or mainstream provision;
_ HIV or Aids – fear of declaring status when approaching
services, particularly for older people who fear disapproval or
condemnation;
_ Self-help models – particularly older lesbians in relation to
making communal provisions;
_ Given that the research findings were largely based on
interviews with ‘younger’ older LGBT people the overriding
conclusion was that issues and concerns were more directed
towards the future than based on current experiences.
An important development in the research process was the visual
inclusion of older LGBT people. It was considered to be essential
that the information resources developed out of the research
were suitably illustrated by positive images of older LGBT
ensuring a targeted and focused marketing approach. This was
exceptionally well received by older LGBT people who expressed
their heartfelt feelings at the launch event that they were finally
being recognised.
The future
Age Concern Scotland and the Equality Network continue to be
committed to developing work around older LGBT issues. A
seminar is planned in the coming months for members of the
older LGBT forum to determine policy campaigning issues leading
on from the housing and social care research. Issues that have
already been flagged up include mental health, a concern that
has been particularly raised by older transgender people. It is
important to look at the sustainability of the Forum itself, and
how to keep the momentum of older LGBT people’s issues to the
fore of policy-makers and service providers.
HELENA SCOTT
Head of Policy and Research, Age Concern Scotland
Helena Scott was the recipient of the Scottish Pride Equality Network
‘Friend for Life’ award in 2003.

(Αναδημοσίευση από το NEWSLETTER, Automn 2006 της ILGA-Europe)