http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/older-gays-hit-by-the-blues/1715271.aspx

Older gays hit by the blues

BY ROSSLYN BEEBY

30 Dec, 2009 10:14 AM

Australia’s ageing ”gay pride” baby boomers face an increased risk of social isolation, depression and suicide because of a lack of supportive health-care services, a Senate inquiry has heard.

Researchers say recent health surveys show an alarmingly high number of senior gays would rather commit suicide than risk abuse from a ”prudish and conservative” aged health-care system.

A recent report by Alzheimer’s Australia estimates more than 37,200 gay men and lesbians will be affected by dementia over the next 20 years, but aged-care policies fail to recognise their specific health, social, legal and financial needs.

It said gay seniors feared health workers ”will judge them, pity them, avoid physical contact, harass them, treat them as an object of curiosity, betray confidences, provide poor quality services or reject them”.

Launching the recent Alzheimer’s Australia report, Justice Michael Kirby said that many of these special needs ”may be traced to the much higher levels of loneliness suffered by sexual minorities”.

Several examples of harassment of gay seniors by health-care staff are detailed in submissions to the Senate Community Affairs Committee’s inquiry into suicide in Australia. These include the director of a day-care centre ordering a gay senior to ”wear latex gloves at all times or leave”, in the mistaken belief he was an AIDS risk.

Hello murrayd,

I am ‘there’ too, age-wise, although I think I’ll go on working until my health keeps and/or until I drop. It help that I enjoy my work. OMG, if they say there is little hope for singles over 40, what does that make me? We must think positive, 60 is the new 40!

It is particularly hard for baby boomers to grow old, and to admit of growing old, and this may have something to do with the limited participation to the survey.

I have a sticker on my profile that says: “I see no good reason to act my age!”.

Seriously, though, although I do not mind my own company, what I dread is loss of independence and self-sufficiency and needing to be dependent on others. I also don’t think I could tolerate people telling me what to do or treating me without respect.

It’s a worry shared by all, no matter what their sexual orientation, but this can make it even more difficult.

Forgive my ignorance but what specific health, social, legal and financhial needs are we talking about here and how do these needs differ from those experienced by heterosexual people? What “special needs” are we talking about? I don’t think the need not to be judged, to not be pitied, to have physical contact, to be safe, not to be an object of curiosity and so forth are necessarily “special” needs that are unique to gay people. Gay people should be treated with the same respect and attention that straight people get in the aged care system, its not special, its equality.

Hi Lady Jane,

I don’t disgree with what you’re saying, I’m sure that gay and lesbian people do indeed suffer from discrimination and homophobia in aged care facilities. The article does use the words “specific” and “special” it just irks me because it creates a line of difference between gays and the rest of the world. We are to be treated specificly and with special attention in order to have our needs met because they are seen to differ from the fundamental basic human rights that everyone else enjoys. We are once again the “other”.

It’s just media sensationalism and usually it doesn’t bother me but it does pay to be aware of the ways in which things are skewed. Those words really didn’t need to be in there because all the article is saying is that gay people should be afforded their human rights and not be subject to discrimination. I guess thats a bit too straight forward for the reporter though.

LOL you said what I wanted to say but so much better!!

Okay, I can agree with the cultural sensitivity but I suspect as time goes on the heteronormative atmosphere that elderly gay people are living in today will slowly fade. We are today as a population more culturally sensitive and aware than we have beeen in the past as this will filter into the aged care system eventually. I’m all for sensitivity training though, sounds like a plan to me.

For the record I was commenting on the language used in this article and not its main conclusion. It uses the words special needs and specific needs and gives a false impression. My comments were about being made to feel “other” when as you pointed out Pingtimeout that isn’t really necessary. Having common sense, working within a human rights framework and treating everyone the same will solve 99% of the “specific” problems faced by elderly gay people today.