Seminars in Ageing: LGBTIQA+ Ageing and Aged Care

LGBTIQA+ Ageing and Aged Care

Presenters: Samantha Edmonds and Sally Goldner AM 

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About the presentation

There is a general invisibility of LGBTIQA+ elders within mainstream society and also often within LGBTIQA+ communities, including widespread ignorance of their specific needs, histories and life experiences.  In addition, the prejudice and discrimination LGBTIQA+ elders have faced over their lives, from government, agencies, organisations, health providers, businesses, families, friends, and individuals has resulted in LGBTIQA+ elders remaining in/returning to “the closet”; being reluctant to reveal their sexual orientation or their intersex status; feeling unable to affirm their gender identity or express their gender freely or being hesitant to confront stereotyping about who they are and what they need.

Thus, many LGBTIQA+ elders have significant fears about ageing, aged care and being openly involved in research or studies about themselves and their lives. They are concerned that service providers and health and other professionals will be indifferent to their sexuality and gender identity, or, at worst, actively hostile.

This presentation will explore LGBTIQA+ elders experiences of ageing, current issues and barriers and provide some tips and resources for best practice in working with LGBTIQA+ elders.

About the presenter

Sally Goldner AM has been involved in Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ communities for over twenty years, Her experiences include being a founding member of Transgender Victoria, presenter of 3 CR’s “Out of the Pan,” co-facilitator of Transfamily and Treasurer of Bisexual Alliance Victoria.She is the focus of an autobiographical documentary “Sally’s Story” and a life member of Seahorse Club of Victoria, Zoe Belle Gender Collective, Victorian Pride Lobby and Polyvic. She was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2016 (the first trans and first known bi woman to receive the honour), awarded LGBTI Victorian of the Year in 2015, noted in The Age’s Top 100 most creative and influential people in Melbourne in 2011. She spent 2 weeks in St Petersburg Russia as a juror for the Side-By-Side LGBT Film festival in November 2015. She was awarded the order of Australia Medal in 2019.

Samantha Edmonds is one of Australia's leading LGBTI inclusive strategists, policy makers and influencers with extensive knowledge and experience in assisting ageing, aged care and health providers develop LGBTI inclusive services. She is passionate about social justice, human rights and ending ageism. Sam is the Manager, Policy and Systemic Advocacy at the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) and the Managing Director of Ageing with Pride, her own consultancy that specialises in projects, programs and services that are respectful, person-centred, culturally safe and inclusive of LGBTI elders and older people. Sam is a distinguished member of the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG), Convenor of the AAG LGBTI Special Interest Group (SIG) and Convenor of the AAG Elder Abuse SIG. She is a partner in the Rainbow Ageing Project, a national research project that aims to provide new data on the health and well-being of older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Australians, led by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), La Trobe University. Sam is also a peer reviewer for the Australasian Journal on Ageing and on the Board of the International Federation of Ageing. Sam holds Masters Degrees in Social Policy, Politics and International Relations. She has completed the Macquarie University Global Leadership Program. Sam has worked in diverse fields including health policy and human rights.

Further information: [email protected]

For more information on this topic, visit https://sallygoldner.com/

lgbtiqa+ and ageing slides

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