Sue Lister cannot stand the thought of older LGBT people in care living in fear of discrimination – and she’s not going to wait for things to change.

“When I reach the time of going into a care home, I need to know that all the staff and residents know about my partner, Ann, and my entire life history,” says the 72-year-old. “I’m not going to put up with any kind of prejudice or discrimination, and I’m not prepared to wait 10 or 20 years [until] the younger generation, which is far more open-minded, is older.”

The first generation to have lived their whole adult lives after the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 are now reaching their later years. The chances are that every facility is home to someone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), but as the subject is still taboo among many older people, care staff are not always aware.

“There’s a great deal of silence because LGBT folk tend to go back into the closet when they are in need of care,” says Lister. “They grew up in an era when to be LGBT was either criminal or sinful. If any staff have particular [anti-LGBT] faith or cultural beliefs that might impinge upon their care, they don’t want to risk that – or saying anything to their peers. It’s as if they’re wearing a paper bag over their head that masks their true identity … and it’s oppressive because they’re not being treated as a whole human being.”



To address the lack of diversity awareness in care, Lister and three colleagues have taken a training play into homes and conferences since 2015. In Free to Be Me, Lister and her partner, Ann Murray, Kevin Sell (a gay man in his 50s) and Lisa Kelly (a trans woman in her 40s) explain why a care home must be LGBT-friendly, share their experiences and answer questions from staff.

The training ends with staff being asked how they will put what they’ve learned into practice.

Simple changes often make all the difference, says Roger Jones, executive director of older people’s services at Age Concern Central Lancashire. “Instead of asking a male resident ‘What’s your wife’s name?’, we should ask ‘Who’s the most important person in your life?’ or ‘Do you have a partner?’”

Most people’s care is found by their children or family, but as an estimated 90% of LGBT people do not have children, it is crucial that social care staff can act as their advocates, says Kirsty Woodard, founder of Ageing Without Children.

“If you’re in hospital and a decision is made that you need to go [into residential care], who looks for the care home?,” she says. “Who makes sure the stuff from your own house is brought along? Who explains to the manager about who you are? For LGBT people, because they’re less likely to have children, that’s a huge gap.”



Age UK’s Safe to be me guide details the many things health and social care professionals can do to support older LGBT people: nominating equality champions, working with local LGBT groups, using inclusive wording and images of same-sex couples in publications, taking LGBT residents to Pride, and displaying a rainbow flag at the front door.

Through its Big Lottery-funded Older and Out project, Age Concern Central Lancashire has delivered free training for those who work with older people, focusing on policies and procedures, the language people use, and the history of LGBT rights and legislation.

Vicki King at a Silver Rainbows session hosted by Belong Crewe residential village. Photograph: Peter David Robinson

“The training went into detail about how difficult it was for the LGBT community and why it might be hard for someone coming into the care setting,” says Gemma Willetts, experience coordinator and Older and Out champion at Belong Atherton residential village. She is one of around 1,000 care staff across Lancashire to have received the training between 2014 and 2017. “It shows how we can be much more open and proud to be who we are today, but [how] it wasn’t like that for many of the people we look after,” she says. “You understand how they may be feeling, and how we can make sure they feel safe and that we meet their needs.”

After the training, staff are given a rainbow “older LGBT champion” badge, which has helped to broach the subject of diversity with residents.

“We didn’t want the impact of the training to be just for the staff,” says Jones. “Of the generation we’re talking about, there’s a lot of discrimination purely because of the history. We thought that if the staff wear it around the care setting, the people who live there might say ‘Oh, I like your badge’, and then there’d be a conversation around LGBT and awareness.”

The badges have proved popular with the Care Quality Commission. “When they came to inspect the care setting, the inspector would ask ‘What’s that badge about?’ and the staff would explain about the training,” says Jones. “On a few occasions, it was highlighted as good practice in the CQC’s report.”

Jones is in talks with Blackpool-based organisation Horizon to replicate Manchester’s plans for an LGBT retirement home, and Lister hopes to create a DVD of Free to Be Me. The group delivers the training nationwide but many care homes can’t afford to cover its expenses and fee. “If we do a DVD and online training, it will be available to whoever wants it,” says Lister.

Meanwhile, Jones’s plans to extend the Over and Out training across the country have stalled; his bid for a funding extension was turned down in January. But he hopes the success of the project will attract backers. “We can see that it’s had a massive impact on the people who live in those care settings, and on the staff who work there,” he says. “The more you talk about things, the less there is discrimination and the more there is acceptance of everybody.”

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