Roberto Ruiz Oliva I Granada, (EFE).- Older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGTBI) people face the challenge of coping with their old age, facing higher rates of loneliness and isolation, and with less support from their family networks than the rest of the general population.
Most of this group, which historically has suffered discrimination in terms of their rights, feels or has felt rejection or questioning by their families, the public services themselves or a large part of society.
This situation of multiple discrimination, often silenced or made invisible and which conditions life and well-being, is addressed from an academic and human perspective in the conference “LGBT older people. Advancing towards a future without barriers” held recently at the University of Granada.
José María Mesquida, a professor at the Department of Social Work and Social Services at the University of Barcelona and a participant in this activity, told EFE that not having a partner, living alone and not having children are situations that are identified as ” predictors” of unwanted loneliness.
Although there is great diversity in terms of situations and life trajectories of LGTBI people, it does seem that this reality occurs “more frequently” in the group, so that it can be considered that their risk of feeling loneliness is indeed greater.
Generations of silence and change
This expert has explained that older LGTBI people can fit into two generations. On the one hand, those who are part of what is known as “of silence”, because they lived through times of clandestinity and persecution; and others who are older but younger, who belong to the so-called “change” generation, the one that transformed social reality in Spain.
The former have suffered “very hard” experiences from growing up in environments where great “real and symbolic” violence was exercised against those who lived unusual sexual orientations and identities.
“These experiences, like any other inequality, mark people and sometimes time causes emotional discomfort to emerge (…) These same people are the ones who may have experienced discrimination in the educational, labor or social fields and this discrimination may have reduced their development possibilities”, explained Mesquida.
As examples, he reports that a trans person who could not have a good job will currently have a very low income level; while a lesbian woman who -by not getting married- took care of her nieces and her parents, she also saw reduced possibilities of finding a job that would bring her an acceptable price.
On the other hand, among younger older people, there are fewer experiences of violence and more of a tradition of fighting, although the reality may vary depending on the area. It is not the same to have been born in a city than in a small town, or to have grown up in a family that is sensitive to difference, than to have done so in another that rejects sexual or gender diversity.
Double stigma: as LGTBI people and as older people
According to Mesquida, older LGTBI people belong to at least two stigmatized groups: as a group they have been exposed to lgtbiphobic violence and, as older people, they may be “invisible, poorer, possibly less autonomous and less valuable on a social level.”
All this translates into greater psychosocial stress, more chances of suffering unwanted loneliness and more fear of moving through spaces that are perceived as “unsafe”.
In this regard, the coordinator for LGTBI Diversity of the Equality Unit of the University of Granada, Pedro López, has reminded EFE that one of the latest reports on this matter from the LGTBI State Federation concludes that most of these people they feel or have felt discrimination and rejection by their families, the public services themselves, or society in general.
Given this reality, according to López, universities -as in the case of Granada- must promote training and teaching in sexual, gender and family diversity, as institutions of higher education and in their work to transfer knowledge to society. .
Guarantee safe spaces
“There is still a long way to go, many of the initiatives that have emerged in recent years come from third-sector social entities, residential or community spaces. There are still demands that must be covered to guarantee safe and inclusive spaces in residential settings for the elderly or in the home help services themselves,” Gloria Álvarez, a professor at the Department of Social Work and Social Services of the UGR.
This teacher believes that there is a need for specialized training for professionals who work in these sectors, and it is “essential” that there are laws that recognize and guarantee a response to the specific needs and demands of this group, hence the involvement of public administrations consider “crucial”.
In the conferences held in Granada, experiences have been known that offer specialized services for the LGBTI elderly group: the project of the 26D Foundation (Federico Armenteros, Madrid) for the creation of a residence with support from the administration and a housing network supervised in Madrid and Galicia; and the Cantapaxarina project (Margarita Llorente, Asturias) that seeks to become a network of self-managed communities of collaborative housing for lesbian women.
Despite the legislative advances in recent decades that have favored an improvement in living conditions, in the case of access to equal marriage, there are still needs to be covered, such as greater specialized care, visibility in social and political discourse, or compensation for the discrimination suffered, issues that must be guaranteed at the legislative level, has come to an end. EFE