Blog: Sharing news of our LGBTQ+ network
Our diversity and inclusion officer, Susanne Flynn, wrote an article for Undividing Lines, an LGBTQ+ publication for the Highlands and Islands in which she shared details of Age Scotland's work with the older LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier this year, Age Scotland started an Older People’s LGBTQ+ Network. This is a safe space for LGBTQ+ people over 50 to have somewhere where they can share their experiences, meet people, provide a platform for discussions and debates, and increase understanding of the needs of LGBTQ+ older people.
The network is an important platform for people to raise inequality issues and for their voice to be heard so that they can be pioneers to bring about the change which meets their needs and upholds their rights.
Our regular group meetings have been a place where members have shared their lived experiences as people of the LGBTQ+ community. It is a place where they don’t have to put up barriers or worry about discrimination and can just be themselves.
Our members come from a diverse range of backgrounds, have different life experiences and are from all over Scotland. The variety of experiences within the group show that LGBTQ+ people are not a homogenous grouping.
We have held four virtual meetings this year but are looking to hold our first in-person meeting and launch event later in November, which we are really looking forward to. Especially after the pandemic and what feels like a lifetime of online events, it will be so nice to have everyone in a room to have discussions and share stories.
Our members have also helped consult on work with local authority and third sector partners. Recently, they have given input to a new training programme by Age Scotland’s dementia team on Dementia and the LGBTQ+ community.
We’ve also started working with the Open University on a set of public health talks around ageing and the LGBTQ+ community. It is important for organisations at different levels to consider that ageing looks different if you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community due to different barriers faced throughout life. It is refreshing that many organisations are keen to consult and consider LGBTQ+ experiences in their work and this will hopefully lead to positive change for future.
The Age Scotland policy team is also working with the Scottish Government to ensure their legislation that affects older people is representative and inclusive of older LGBTQ+ people and their experiences. We co-produce a lot of our work, so will take the stories and voices of LGBTQ+ older people into these projects.
At the moment, we have around 12 regular members, and we are working continually to ensure our membership base is diverse so that we can fully represent those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community
