| INTER |
|
SECTION |
We are surprised that the Department of Victorian Communities Consultation Paper on Elder Abuse Prevention in its References makes no mention of any specific Australian papers or publications dealing with abuse suffered by lesbian, gay and transgender senior citizens.
In 1999 the Australasian Journal on Ageing published “A lavender pink grey power: Gay and lesbian gerontology in Australia” Harrison J., also the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal in 2001 published “It’s none of my business: Gay and lesbian invisibility in aged care” Harrison J., in 2001 the NSW Committee on Ageing published the report “Keeping the Balance: Older Men and Healthy Ageing,” in 2002 a Report was prepared for the ALSO Foundation by RMIT University (Centre for Applied Social Research) entitled “The Needs of Older Gay, Lesbian and Transgender People” Robinson P. Chamberlain C, and in 2004 the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services (Vol.16[2]) published “Gay, Old, and Poor: Service Delivery to Ageing Gay Men in Inner Sydney Australia” Porter M, Russell C, Sullivan G. just to name a few. There have been recent forums on LGT Ageing which we have attended in Adelaide (2001), ALSO Community Forums Melbourne (2003), HID4 Sydney (2003), Rainbow Visions Newcastle NSW (2004), HID5 Melbourne (2005) and ADB Sydney (2005) which we were unable to attend but were represented. We have been panel members at some of these forums, as well as presenting a paper or two at conferences.
We also felt that the time frame for consultations and submissions between the release of the Consultation Paper (August) and the deadline (September 30) for submissions was far too short. We attended a specific forum (26 September) where we received the Paper. Notice of the forum was received only midway through the previous week One has to wonder how genuine were your expectations of finding enough responses to provide a cross section of views and alternative strategies on this important issue.
COMMENTS ON THE ELDER ABUSE PREVENTION PROJECT PAPER2.: Defining elder abuse with an additional category is certainly necessary. It could be listed as Homophobic/Racist Abuse: and defined as “treating an older person as a second class citizen because of perceived /openly non-heterosexuality or of skin colour/speech and using insulting remarks and actions due to homophobia/racism designed to intimidate.” Should be inserted between the categories “Psychological/Emotional Abuse:” and “Social Abuse:” because it relates to both these categories.
5.1: Agencies –how would they be encouraged to develop protocols to deal with homophobia if there isn’t a category for this discriminatory abuse of LGT seniors by staff as well as carers? Does the 1995 Guide actually discuss abuse of LGT seniors and will the upgrading (7.1.6) cover LGT seniors and homophobic discrimination? The Guide apparently is distributed widely within the aged care industry and because of fear of being outed and discriminated against in nursing homes LGT seniors choose home care (see ATTACHMENT page 1). It does not mean though that they would be free of homophobic abuse.
5.2: It would seem that complaints about abuse in nursing homes are to be accepted only if the nursing home or service, like home care for instance, is funded by the Commonwealth Government which has a Complaints Resolution Scheme. Under such circumstances are we to assume that there are other nursing homes and services that operate privately outside the square and so who or what mediates complaints about them? If these private services and nursing homes are those run by religious organisations they are already outside the reach of anti-discrimination legislation in Australia. Seems to us that leaves lesbians, gays and transgender seniors without any support whatever.
6.1.3: There is an urgent need to recognize that social attitudes held by older generations of Australians steeped in various religious cultures are a significant factor leading to discriminatory homophobic abuse of senior LGT citizens. Very many home carers both paid and volunteers are likely to hold such generational social attitudes.
(6.1.4) How is it proposed to deal with appropriate training for such homophobic religious attitudes in home carers and their trainers? We suggest that the Equal Time two page article, as ATTACHMENT to this submission, contains valuable insights and options for consideration and adopting.
There are examples of discriminatory senior LGT abuse in the ATTACHMENT to this submission but some other studies have provided probable outcomes of homophobia and lifetime discrimination. In the NSW 2001 study, “Keeping the Balance –Older men and healthy ageing”--not one of the participants in its focus groups and seminar identified as gay. The report suggested that the use of heterosexist language and expectations of the organisers of the focus groups and the seminar acted as barriers to the participation of older gay men in the research.
The 2004 article published in the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, “Gay, Old, and Poor,” makes the point that, in the absence of a partner or family, institutionalization (low to high level aged care) is inevitable for non-partnered older gay men on aged pensions when self-care in rented accommodation becomes too difficult. For non-partnered gay older men, possibly poor and without support, one additional issue of concern is the dominance of religious organizations in not-for-profit residential aged care in Australia, which may not recognize gay consumers’ needs (Harrison, 1999). The moral positions of many church-based agencies would never meet any need there may be to help these men to accept their sexual orientation. To overcome a lifetime of isolation and social inhibition based on stigmatization of homosexuality, some of which is likely to have been internalized, would be impossible in such religious organizations. In these circumstances, many gay men are more likely to be helped by an accepting, supportive and nonjudgmental mainstream service provider made aware of such a situation.
6.2: A greater awareness of the discriminatory homophobic abuse of senior LGT citizens could perhaps be made by regular visits by educators and senior lesbian, gay and transgender speakers to senior citizens’ groups, local councils and organizations such as COTA and National Seniors. COTA, for instance, still does not recognize lesbian, gay and transgender seniors as having a real or distinct existence or suffer homophobic abuse as senior citizens.
7.1.2: Public awareness initiatives should also contain homophobia discrimination as an abuse practice against LGT seniors quite possibly from some Volunteer Friends named as a group of volunteers who form friendships with older people in their communities. This area is where training against discriminatory attitudes is essential.
OTHER INITIATIVES FOR CONSIDERATIONThere is a rapidly growing base of information built up over several years now, about lesbian, gay and transgender ageing and what it means when combined with homophobia and discrimination throughout Australia.
Therefore, serious consideration should be given by the Department of Victorian Communities for a long overdue seeding grant for a Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Ageing Worker to begin to pull together all this intra and inter State information. A salaried advocate or consultant at the Office of Senior Victorians could be the way to go.
Designed to provide a central point for overseeing, collation and dissemination of the LGT ageing information, the office would be the information source to other States and Territories Ministers. The salaried worker would develop proposals such as a resourced speakers bureau comprising GLT over-60s seniors with a political understanding of ageism to address LGT ageing issues in the aged care industry, as well as seniors social clubs and leisure centres. There also needs to be LGT speakers from different language groups able to address their own seniors social clubs (Darebin Council 2005-6 Senior Citizens Directory lists 30 separate Seniors Clubs for speakers of languages other than English and there are 7 separate English seniors social clubs as well in Darebin).
IN CONCLUSIONAt the end of the Consultation Paper’s Questionnaire you asked for information on what we currently do and what we think we can do to address the issues raised.
We have attended forums on ageing issues and in some of them participated as panel members. At a COTA forum in Melbourne about three years ago, we asked a question of each of the panel members (all from aged care organisations): “As same-sex partners, we would like to know what training care workers receive regarding the needs of older lesbians and older gay men in the community?” Not surprisingly the answer from the lot of them was none. Since then we have continued asking the same question in different forms. That’s why there is a need to introduce a new elder abuse category which we suggested earlier in this submission as Homophobic/Racist Abuse.
We carry a Lesbian and Gay Solidarity Banner between us at demonstrations and pickets. Some have been gay protests but most have been political protests about various issues like anti-war, free asylum seekers etc. Some haranguing has occurred because of our banner which goes to show that old learned religion-based stigmatisation of homosexuality is still alive and well in the communities of Melbourne.
We have also appeared in gay Community Television and Radio programmes to discuss aspects of political dissent for gays and lesbians as well as lesbian, gay and transgender ageing issues. We shall continue to do so when the opportunity is presented.
In 2001, we read in the local free newspaper that our Council (Darebin), after extensive consultation had completed a Draft Aged and Disability Services Strategy. The advertisement went on to say that written comments were being sought so we down-loaded the Executive Summary document and wrote a submission.
We took up Darebin’s Strategy team on their statement about the changing nature of its ageing population without defining what they meant. The Strategy appeared to be only concerned about the Council’s future ability to meet increased financial costs of its aged services. It seemed therefore unlikely that it would by its own initiative attempt to treat its considerable lesbian and gay population component as anything more than heteronormative. We therefore endeavoured in our submission to show them that 40 years of lesbian and gay activism had produced legislation which supported in a limited but positive way equality with heterosexual communities. Under these circumstances it was up to the arm of government closest to the people to implement these findings within its services.
Lesbians, gays and transgender people because they had reached senior status should not be expected to deny their identity for some kind of twilight hetero existence because aged care services did not recognize difference.
We received a very positive response to our submission unexpectedly from the leader of the project team. However, when the Future Directions Strategy was finally launched in July 2002, we looked in vain for any recognition of the needs of LGT seniors being met.
So what did we do? We tried to get Darebin to provide some lesbian and gay event in their annual local programme for the Seniors Festival or at least to promote any lesbian/gay event that the Victorian Government’s official programme included. We won for the first time last year. Darebin made mention of the Tea Dance in Melbourne Town Hall. We plan to continue the pressure. We also lobbied our local councillor and were interviewed by Council’s social policy manager about the issues we had raised. This interview occurred after a Council Meeting approved a motion by our Councillor to consider undertaking a project to discover the extent of the lesbian and gay population in Darebin and advise about any future services. Since then we have a new Council Representative and we are going to have to continue the pressure. It’s a frustratingly slow process.
Our experience with local council and with advocacy organizations bears out the need for a properly funded worker/advocate/consultant on lesbian, gay, trangender ageing issues situated in the Office of Senior Victorians with the power to initiate and implement changes to the culture of discriminatory attitudes in communities.
It’s not much good governments simply passing laws in support of sexual minorities. They must set in motion the means by which the culture of homophobia in the various communities is changed. An LGT advocate in the form suggested seems essential for the acceptance of and the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay and transgender seniors in our society.
Signed: Kendall Lovett and Mannie De Saxe,Older gays and lesbians face a discriminatory environment when it comes to ageing and aged care services, according to gerontology researcher Dr Jo Harrison of the University of South Australia.
Dr Harrison says that the view of ageing as a negative, lonely experience is a serious barrier to overcoming discrimination on the basis of age in the gay and lesbian community. Connection to the gay community can contribute to a positive ageing experience, and many gay and lesbian people fear having to go to a nursing home in old age.
According to Harrison, aged care services operate within a dominant “heteronormative” framework in which heterosexual experience is seen as the central world view and the role of sexuality as a component of identity is not recognised.
Harrison says that heteronormative assumptions underpin many discussions of aged care practice, particularly when referring to relationships, family, household, taxation and superannuation. Terms like “never married”, “spouse carer” and “widowed” reflect the assumption that all elderly people are heterosexual.
This can lead to a situation where an older gay man or lesbian is reluctant to disclose their sexuality and it is therefore unlikely that their needs will be met to the fullest extent possible.
Harrison discusses a case in which a lesbian being admitted to a home felt unable to reveal that the “friend” accompanying her at admission was really her life partner. The partner was therefore not given the same visiting and decision-making rights as the woman’s children.
In fact, only a small percentage of the aged population ever requires nursing home care. But the fear of being “forced back into the closet” makes many gay and lesbian people reluctant to consider this as an option, and may influence their overall thinking about ageing.
A common viewpoint among health professionals is that a person’s sexuality is “private” and not relevant to their treatment. Harrison argues that this is a barrier to a full understanding of a client’s life experiences, and may also be a way of avoiding the need for change.
Harrison says that mass “outing” of elderly gay men and lesbians is not the answer, and they should not be required to overtly discuss their relationships. Gay men and lesbians who grew up prior to the advent of gay liberation may have lived their entire lives without revealing their sexuality and coming out may not be a feasible option for them.
This contrasts with mid-life gays and lesbians, who are more likely to have been through a “coming out” process and made choices about disclosure throughout their lives. However, Harrison says the crucial thing is for aged care services to “avoid assumptions which limit opportunities for coming out, while respecting diversity around identity, life history and self-understandings”.
This includes understanding the choice not to identify as lesbian, gay, or even different. Overseas research has shown that many older lesbians, for example, do not apply this term to their own same-sex relationships or life arrangements.
There are ways that aged care services can communicate to older gay men and lesbians through language, practices and symbols that can reassure them that an environment is non-discriminatory.
For example, application forms and interviews could refer to “significant people” rather than “husband or wife”. Anecdotal evidence suggests that such subtle signals of openness have encouraged older gay clients to discuss issues and concerns that may otherwise have remained unaddressed.
Overt homophobia and abuse of gay and lesbian clients by nursing home staff are very important issues in the aged care context. Although there are no documented cases in formal complaints to government bodies, anecdotal evidence suggests that the problem certainly exists.
Harrison tells of one elderly man who had come out to the occupational therapist at a day centre after she asked whether he had a partner and what was their name. This enabled him to express some concerns that would otherwise have remained unaddressed.
However the Director of Nursing subsequently asked him to wear latex gloves while at the centre and threatened to refuse service to him if he did not comply. The occupational therapist managed to resolve the issue but it was a struggle and they had limited support from other staff.
Another elderly man was transferred from a retirement village to a psychiatric hospital because the management disapproved of his “younger male visitors”. There are other cases of nurses refusing to bathe a “suspected lesbian” and elderly people being threatened with outing if they complained about how they were being treated.
Transgender and intersex people are also particularly vulnerable to discrimination in aged care settings, to the point where they may avoid seeking assistance altogether. There is anecdotal evidence of denial of services, forcibly preventing cross-dressing and deliberate physical violence when people are revealed to be transgender.
Transgender people may also have medical issues related their original gender that emerge with ageing, such as osteoporosis or prostate cancer. These may not be addressed because they may be too intimidated to seek medical advice of any kind.
Harrison says that aged care workers must develop a better understanding of diversity around sexuality issues in order to provide quality service to future clients who have not led closeted lives and need non-judgemental care and support. There have not yet been significant advances in this area in Australia.
Education of service providers is very important, and overseas evidence suggests that initiatives based on empowerment, involving gay and lesbian professionals from related organisations and organising speakers bureaux of older educators, have been particularly successful.
A Code of Ethics was developed for the Australian aged care industry in 2001, but this did not outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.
Recent legislative changes have addressed some of these concerns, but do not necessarily cover the special situation of older people who have lived a long life of non-disclosure. Areas such as superannuation, wills, next of kin and power of attorney are still problematic in this regard.
There have been developments in the USA in relation to ageing and sexuality. These include the establishment of a National Association of Lesbian and Gay Gerontology, the American Society on Ageing’s Lesbian and Gay Ageing Issues Network, and some tertiary curricula that address gay and lesbian ageing issues. Some activist and support organisations are now also emerging in Australia.
An improvement in understanding of the needs of gay and lesbian clients of aged care services, leading to greater empowerment and self advocacy, may result in unexpected outcomes and new options for action not previously considered.
On 20 September 2005 Lesbian and Gay Solidarity, Melbourne (LGS), received an invitation from Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV) to attend a GLBT specific forum: “Promoting the dignity and safety of Senior Victorians”.
The forum was organized by the Office of Senior Victorians in partnership with the ALSO Foundation and Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria and was held on Monday 26 September 2005 at the La Trobe University’s premises at 215 Franklin Street Melbourne. Apparently, it was in answer to the Office of Senior Victorians’ consultation paper outlining ways to improve the State Government’s approach to the prevention of elder abuse.
The forum was attended by 16 people including representatives of gay and lesbian organizations in Victoria, plus the chairperson, Barney Cooney, of the Advisory Committee’s Elder Abuse Prevention Project. The person conducting the meeting seemed oblivious of the fact that it was intended as a gay, lesbian and transgender consultation. In December 2005 the “Report of the Elder Abuse Prevention Project – Strengthening Victoria’s Response to Elder Abuse” was published based on submissions and the community consultation forums held between 24 August and 21 September 2005. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) specific forum was not mentioned in the forums listed on page 46 of the report and neither was the COTA/VAHEC one in October (see page 22 of the Report). At the LGBT consultation we were told that the Elder Abuse Prevention Project would welcome submissions from us and that the closing date had been extended from 30 September to 7 October 2005. There is also no mention of this in the report. Why so?
Lesbian and Gay Solidarity read the report from cover to cover to try to find out what had been concluded from the issues raised at the specific 26 September 2005 forum. The 46 page document stated in the final paragraph of the section on Community Awareness on page 32:
“Education strategies need to recognize cultural diversity, indigenous groups and the needs of older gay and lesbian people.”
The Report also goes on to say: “These and other groups need to be consulted.” All very well but where did you take any notice of what we had to say? We are aware of at least two submissions made by GLBT organisations, Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV) and Lesbian and Gay Solidarity, Melbourne (LGS). Nowhere in the Report is there any acknowledgement or mention of either of these submissions.
If the deliberations on 26 September 2005 were meant to be a sop to the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender communities to show that they were being consulted, the outcome shows that it was a waste of everybody’s time. All the ageing organizations in Victoria – and beyond the state’s borders – ignore the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender communities despite ongoing representations made to them. Previously this has included COTA, National Seniors and the newspaper Victorian Senior, but this now seems to extend to a Victorian government department investigating elder abuse in the community.
In September 2005, SBS’s Insight TV forum screened a programme called “When I get Older-----“ on ageing and nursing homes and in November 2005, the ABC’s Background Briefing aired a Sunday morning radio programme on Financial Abuse of the Elderly. Neither of these programmes included any members or mention of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender communities. The outcome has been once again that the needs of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender older people in the general community are completely ignored as homophobia takes hold and discrimination once more rears its ugly head.
Elder abuse of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender people has been well documented by researchers such as Dr Jo Harrison of the University of South Australia in her doctoral thesis of 2004: “TOWARDS THE RECOGNITION OF GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX AGEING IN AUSTRALIAN GERONTOLOGY” but the community at large fails to acknowledge the existence of such problems. We even gave the woman who conducted the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender specific forum a note in which we mentioned a research paper published in Vol.16 (2) 2004 of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services on Ageing Gay Men in Inner City Sydney.
Bodies which provide services for the elderly, such as councils, nursing homes, hospitals, hostels, and other such organizations employ people either as paid staff or volunteers who are not trained to deal with, nor screened for dealing with Gay, Lesbian and Transgender people and many have homophobic attitudes. Religious institutions have exemptions from anti-discrimination legislation which means they can discriminate (a very real form of abuse) with impunity.
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Specific Forum appears to have been hastily convened, no doubt because no thought had been given to the needs of gay, lesbian and “other groups” who are also part of the ageing population of Victoria. Those of us who attended our forum were lucky that someone suddenly remembered that we existed. Even so, it was recent publicity in the media about elder abuse that alerted us to the fact that the Report had been released. But we weren’t initially sent a copy and were unable to get hold of a copy of the Report until mid-March 2006 despite it having been published in December 2005.
Kendall Lovett and Mannie De SaxeCopies to: Minister for Ageing, Vic., MCV, Melbourne Star, BNews, 50plus, Victorian Senior, COTA Vic, COTA National Seniors, Office of Senior Victorians, Darebin Council, GLHV, ABC, SBS, Dr Jo Harrison
The letter below from COTA is the first -and so far only - response to our letter above in which we expressed our concerns that submission we had made on elder abuse had been ignored in the report of the committee inquiring into such matters. We intend now to pursue the matter further.
We sent the item below on 26 March 2006 to various people and organisations.
To date we have only received one response, and this was received six weeks ago.
We are writing to remind you that we were invited to attend an Elder Abuse Prevention Project Inquiry and would expect the courtesy of a response, particularly from the State government and other related organisations.
In view of the fact that the report almost totally ignored the gay, lesbian, transgender and HIV/AIDS communities, we feel an explanation is required.
Kendall Lovett and Mannie De Saxe, For Lesbian and Gay Solidarity, MelbourneWe made a submission to the Elder Abuse Inquiry in October 2005. Not only was there no acknowledgment of our submission in the report issued a few months later, but there is no record of our submission with the other submissions on the Elder Abuse web site under the Department of Victorian Communities listings.
This is elder abuse and homophobia writ large. The email we have just sent, with the name of the person who is supposed to deal with the submissions listed on it for DVC has been returned to us as undeliverable.
We are demanding that Australian governments treat us equally with all the citizens of this country and not as second-class citizens. Is this the best Victoria can offer??
Mannie De Saxe and Kendall Lovett,We have not had any feedback from those listed on this email, and look upon this as some form of homophobic elder abuse. Fortunately there is a Victorian state election coming up shortly, and we will encourage those who live in our electorate, Preston, to look very carefully at the election manifestos of the candidates and to vote accordingly.
It should be noted that, although there are no statistics available to prove the point, there are a great number of gay, lesbian, transgender and HIV/AIDS community members who live in Preston and who are waiting for equality under Victorian law.
This has not been given to us by the present government, and is not likely to be given to us by the next one, but we can certainly register our protests at the ballot box, as I am sure many community members will feel they need to.
We have just received our latest booklet for Victorian Seniors from the Minister for Ageing. We believe it is time the minister addressed the issues of homophobia in his government and party as equal rights do not seem to be on the ageing agenda.
The last email was on 10 June 2006. Four months later and not even the courtesy of a response.
Mannie De Saxe and Kendall Lovett, for Lesbian and Gay Solidarity, Melbourne, and InterSection, Melbourne -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------Copies to: Minister for Ageing, Vic., MCV, Melbourne Star, BNews, 50plus, Victorian Senior, COTA Vic, COTA National Seniors, Office of Senior Victorians, Darebin Council, GLHV, ABC, SBS, Dr Jo Harrison
The letter below from COTA is the first -and so far only - response to our letter above in which we expressed our concerns that submission we had made on elder abuse had been ignored in the report of the committee inquiring into such matters. We intend now to pursue the matter further.
We sent the item below on 26 March 2006 to various people and organisations. To date we have only received one response, and this was received six weeks ago. We are writing to remind you that we were invited to attend an Elder Abuse Prevention Project Inquiry and would expect the courtesy of a response, particularly from the State government and other related organisations.
In view of the fact that the report almost totally ignored the gay, lesbian, transgender and HIV/AIDS communities, we feel an explanation is required.
Kendall Lovett and Mannie De Saxe, For Lesbian and Gay Solidarity, MelbourneWe made a submission to the Elder Abuse Inquiry in October 2005. Not only was there no acknowledgment of our submission in the report issued a few months later, but there is no record of our submission with the other submissions on the Elder Abuse web site under the Department of Victorian Communities listings.
This is elder abuse and homophobia writ large. The email we have just sent, with the name of the person who is supposed to deal with the submissions listed on it for DVC has been returned to us as undeliverable.
We are demanding that Australian governments treat us equally with all the citizens of this country and not as second-class citizens. Is this the best Victoria can offer??
Mannie De Saxe and Kendall Lovett,We have not had any feedback from those listed on this email, and look upon this as some form of homophobic elder abuse. Fortunately there is a Victorian state election coming up shortly, and we will encourage those who live in our electorate, Preston, to look very carefully at the election manifestos of the candidates and to vote accordingly.
It should be noted that, although there are no statistics available to prove the point, there are a great number of gay, lesbian, transgender and HIV/AIDS community members who live in Preston and who are waiting for equality under Victorian law.
This has not been given to us by the present government, and is not likely to be given to us by the next one, but we can certainly register our protests at the ballot box, as I am sure many community members will feel they need to.
We have just received our latest booklet for Victorian Seniors from the Minister for Ageing. We believe it is time the minister addressed the issues of homophobia in his government and party as equal rights do not seem to be on the ageing agenda.
The last email was on 10 June 2006. Four months later and not even the courtesy of a response.
Mannie De Saxe and Kendall Lovett,Copies to: Minister for Ageing, Vic., MCV, Melbourne Star, BNews, 50plus, Victorian Senior, COTA Vic, COTA National Seniors, Office of Senior Victorians, Darebin Council, GLHV, ABC, SBS, Dr Jo Harrison
There must be a state election in the offing, otherwise why the letter below from the Minister for Aged Care - all of a sudden - and, of course with a totally incorrect summary of events which just shows more of the Bracks government's homophobia! How much longer before we achieve the same human rights as other Victorians?
Dear Minister,
Re: Submission to Elder Abuse Inquiry 2005
Your reference: DVCC011678, 30 October 2006.
We appreciate your reply to our letter of 11 October but we find your response rather perplexing.
Firstly, why have we had to wait so long for a reply to our original complaint, dated 25 March 2006, despite a reminder on 10 June?
Secondly, who made the decision to list only public forums and why not list those you claim were arranged by a numbnumber of interest groups? Surely such would prove to the public that the project wasn?t just a publicity seeking exercise. After all the specific forum we attended was to be chaired by Barney Cooney the Chair of the Elder Abuse Advisory Committee, but he arrived late after the forum had commenced with an alternative chair and so he deferred to the presiding chair.
And thirdly, why is there no mention in either your letter to us or in the official Report of the Elder Abuse Prevention Project, December 2005, that the closing date was extended from 30 September 2005 to 7 October 2005?
In the December 2005 Report of the Elder Abuse Prevention Project which was the basis of our complaint of 25 March, on page 22 under Community Consultation, it states that public submissions were sought and a number of public forums were held through August to November 2005 yet on page 46 it lists public forums only from 24 August through to 21 September 2005.
Something doesn't seem to ring true here or is it that it's still a bit early to acknowledge in a public document that gay, lesbian and transgender people have been canvassed for their opinions on what constitutes abuse of their seniors. Discrimination is a very potent form of abuse in the age care industry.
Below is a copy of the Lesbian and Gay Solidarity (Melbourne) Thursday 6 October 2005 Submission sent by email (note the date, 7.10.05, of email) and we certainly would like it included on your website. So, after you have read it, perhaps you could pass it on to Steve Passalis for us and we shall let him know that we have sent it you. Perhaps the reason there is no record of the original is simply because the extended closing date for submissions was never passed on to the office personnel.
Thank you for enclosing a copy of the flyer inviting us to a meeting on Positive Ageing for Older Gay Men and Lesbians this coming Wednesday, 8 Nov.2006. We were already aware of it and had advised GLHV that we would attend.
Signed: Kendall Lovett and Mannie De Saxe, Lesbian and Gay Solidarity (Melbourne). ------------------------------------------------We are surprised that the Department of Victorian Communities Consultation Paper on Elder Abuse Prevention in its References makes no mention of any specific Australian papers or publications dealing with abuse suffered by lesbian, gay and transgender senior citizens.
In 1999 the Australasian Journal on Ageing published "A lavender pink grey power: Gay and lesbian gerontology in Australia" Harrison J.,
also the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal in 2001 published "It's none of my business: Gay and lesbian invisibility in aged care" Harrison J.,
in 2001 the NSW Committee on Ageing published the report "Keeping the Balance: Older Men and Healthy Ageing,"
in 2002 a Report was prepared for the ALSO Foundation by RMIT University (Centre for Applied Social Research) entitled "The Needs of Older Gay, Lesbian and Transgender People" Robinson P. Chamberlain C,
and in 2004 the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services (Vol.16[2]) published "Gay, Old, and Poor: Service Delivery to Ageing Gay Men in Inner Sydney Australia" Porter M, Russell C, Sullivan G.
just to name a few. There have been recent forums on LGT Ageing which we have attended in Adelaide (2001),
ALSO Community Forums Melbourne (2003),
HID4 Sydney (2003),
Rainbow Visions Newcastle NSW (2004),
HID5 Melbourne (2005)
and ADB Sydney (2005) which we were unable to attend but were represented. We have been panel members at some of these forums, as well as presenting a paper or two at conferences.
We also felt that the time frame for consultations and submissions between the release of the Consultation Paper (August) and the deadline (September 30) for submissions was far too short. We attended a specific forum (26 September) where we received the Paper. Notice of the forum was received only midway through the previous week One has to wonder how genuine were your expectations of finding enough responses to provide a cross section of views and alternative strategies on this important issue.
COMMENTS ON THE ELDER ABUSE PREVENTION PROJECT PAPER2.: Defining elder abuse with an additional category is certainly necessary. It could be listed as Homophobic/Racist Abuse: and defined as "treating an older person as a second class citizen because of perceived /openly non- heterosexuality or of skin colour/speech and using insulting remarks and actions due to homophobia/racism designed to intimidate." Should be inserted between the categories "Psychological/Emotional Abuse:" and "Social Abuse:" because it relates to both these categories.
5.1: Agencies "how would they be encouraged to develop protocols to deal with homophobia if there isn't a category for this discriminatory abuse of LGT seniors by staff as well as carers?" Does the 1995 Guide actually discuss abuse of LGT seniors and will the upgrading (7.1.6) cover LGT seniors and homophobic discrimination? The Guide apparently is distributed widely within the aged care industry and because of fear of being outed and discriminated against in nursing homes LGT seniors choose home care (see ATTACHMENT page 1). It does not mean though that they would be free of homophobic abuse.
5.2: It would seem that complaints about abuse in nursing homes are to be accepted only if the nursing home or service, like home care for instance, is funded by the Commonwealth Government which has a Complaints Resolution Scheme. Under such circumstances are we to assume that there are other nursing homes and services that operate privately outside the square and so who or what mediates complaints about them? If these private services and nursing homes are those run by religious organisations they are already outside the reach of anti- discrimination legislation in Australia. Seems to us that leaves lesbians, gays and transgender seniors without any support whatever.
6.1.3: There is an urgent need to recognize that social attitudes held by older generations of Australians steeped in various religious cultures are a significant factor leading to discriminatory homophobic abuse of senior LGT citizens. Very many home carers both paid and volunteers are likely to hold such generational social attitudes.
(6.1.4) How is it proposed to deal with appropriate training for such homophobic religious attitudes in home carers and their trainers? We suggest that the Equal Time two page article, as ATTACHMENT to this submission, contains valuable insights and options for consideration and adopting. There are examples of discriminatory senior LGT abuse in the ATTACHMENT to this submission but some other studies have provided probable outcomes of homophobia and lifetime discrimination. In the NSW 2001 study, "Keeping the Balance - Older men and healthy ageing"--not one of the participants in its focus groups and seminar identified as gay. The report suggested that the use of heterosexist language and expectations of the organisers of the focus groups and the seminar acted as barriers to the participation of older gay men in the research. The 2004 article published in the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, "Gay, Old, and Poor," makes the point that, in the absence of a partner or family, institutionalization (low to high level aged care) is inevitable for non- partnered older gay men on aged pensions when self-care in rented accommodation becomes too difficult. For non-partnered gay older men, possibly poor and without support, one additional issue of concern is the dominance of religious organizations in not-for-profit residential aged care in Australia, which may not recognize gay consumers' needs (Harrison, 1999). The moral positions of many church-based agencies would never meet any need there may be to help these men to accept their sexual orientation. To overcome a lifetime of isolation and social inhibition based on stigmatization of homosexuality, some of which is likely to have been internalized, would be impossible in such religious organizations. In these circumstances, many gay men are more likely to be helped by an accepting, supportive and nonjudgmental mainstream service provider made aware of such a situation.
6.2: A greater awareness of the discriminatory homophobic abuse of senior LGT citizens could perhaps be made by regular visits by educators and senior lesbian, gay and transgender speakers to senior citizens' groups, local councils and organizations such as COTA and National Seniors. COTA, for instance, still does not recognize lesbian, gay and transgender seniors as having a real or distinct existence or suffer homophobic abuse as senior citizens.
7.1.2: Public awareness initiatives should also contain homophobia discrimination as an abuse practice against LGT seniors quite possibly from some Volunteer Friends named as a group of volunteers who form friendships with older people in their communities. This area is where training against discriminatory attitudes is essential.
OTHER INITIATIVES FOR CONSIDERATIONThere is a rapidly growing base of information built up over several years now, about lesbian, gay and transgender ageing and what it means when combined with homophobia and discrimination throughout Australia. Therefore, serious consideration should be given by the Department of Victorian Communities for a long overdue seeding grant for a Lesbian, Gay and Transgender Ageing Worker to begin to pull together all this intra and inter State information. A salaried advocate or consultant at the Office of Senior Victorians could be the way to go. Designed to provide a central point for overseeing, collation and dissemination of the LGT ageing information, the office would be the information source to other States and Territories Ministers. The salaried worker would develop proposals such as a resourced speakers bureau comprising GLT over-60s seniors with a political understanding of ageism to address LGT ageing issues in the aged care industry, as well as seniors social clubs and leisure centres. There also needs to be LGT speakers from different language groups able to address their own seniors social clubs (Darebin Council 2005-6 Senior Citizens Directory lists 30 separate Seniors Clubs for speakers of languages other than English and there are 7 separate English seniors social clubs as well in Darebin).
IN CONCLUSIONAt the end of the Consultation Paper's Questionnaire you asked for information on what we currently do and what we think we can do to address the issues raised.
We have attended forums on ageing issues and in some of them participated as panel members. At a COTA forum in Melbourne about three years ago, we asked a question of each of the panel members (all from aged care organisations): "As same-sex partners, we would like to know what training care workers receive regarding the needs of older lesbians and older gay men in the community"? Not surprisingly the answer from the lot of them was none. Since then we have continued asking the same question in different forms. That's why there is a need to introduce a new elder abuse category which we suggested earlier in this submission as Homophobic/Racist Abuse.
We carry a Lesbian and Gay Solidarity Banner between us at demonstrations and pickets. Some have been gay protests but most have been political protests about various issues like anti-war, free asylum seekers etc. Some haranguing has occurred because of our banner which goes to show that old learned religion- based stigmatisation of homosexuality is still alive and well in the communities of Melbourne.
We have also appeared in gay Community Television and Radio programmes to discuss aspects of political dissent for gays and lesbians as well as lesbian, gay and transgender ageing issues. We shall continue to do so when the opportunity is presented.
In 2001, we read in the local free newspaper that our Council (Darebin), after extensive consultation had completed a Draft Aged and Disability Services Strategy. The advertisement went on to say that written comments were being sought so we down-loaded the Executive Summary document and wrote a submission. We took up Darebin's Strategy team on their statement about the changing nature of its ageing population without defining what they meant. The Strategy appeared to be only concerned about the Council's future ability to meet increased financial costs of its aged services. It seemed therefore unlikely that it would by its own initiative attempt to treat its considerable lesbian and gay population component as anything more than heteronormative. We therefore endeavoured in our submission to show them that 40 years of lesbian and gay activism had produced legislation which supported in a limited but positive way equality with heterosexual communities. Under these circumstances it was up to the arm of government closest to the people to implement these findings within its services. Lesbians, gays and transgender people because they had reached senior status should not be expected to deny their identity for some kind of twilight hetero existence because aged care services did not recognize difference. We received a very positive response to our submission unexpectedly from the leader of the project team. However, when the Future Directions Strategy was finally launched in July 2002, we looked in vain for any recognition of the needs of LGT seniors being met.
So what did we do? We tried to get Darebin to provide some lesbian and gay event in their annual local programme for the Seniors Festival or at least to promote any lesbian/gay event that the Victorian Government's official programme included. We won for the first time last year. Darebin made mention of the Tea Dance in Melbourne Town Hall. We plan to continue the pressure. We also lobbied our local councillor and were interviewed by Council's social policy manager about the issues we had raised. This interview occurred after a Council Meeting approved a motion by our Councillor to consider undertaking a project to discover the extent of the lesbian and gay population in Darebin and advise about any future services. Since then we have a new Council Representative and we are going to have to continue the pressure. It's a frustratingly slow process.
Our experience with local council and with advocacy organizations bears out the need for a properly funded worker/advocate/consultant on lesbian, gay, trangender ageing issues situated in the Office of Senior Victorians with the power to initiate and implement changes to the culture of discriminatory attitudes in communities. It's not much good governments simply passing laws in support of sexual minorities. They must set in motion the means by which the culture of homophobia in the various communities is changed. An LGT advocate in the form suggested seems essential for the acceptance of and the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay and transgender seniors in our society.
Signed: Kendall Lovett and Mannie De Saxe,Older gays and lesbians face a discriminatory environment when it comes to ageing and aged care services, according to gerontology researcher Dr Jo Harrison of the University of South Australia.
Dr Harrison says that the view of ageing as a negative, lonely experience is a serious barrier to overcoming discrimination on the basis of age in the gay and lesbian community. Connection to the gay community can contribute to a positive ageing experience, and many gay and lesbian people fear having to go to a nursing home in old age.
According to Harrison, aged care services operate within a dominant "heteronormative" framework in which heterosexual experience is seen as the central world view and the role of sexuality as a component of identity is not recognised.
Harrison says that heteronormative assumptions underpin many discussions of aged care practice, particularly when referring to relationships, family, household, taxation and superannuation. Terms like "never married", "spouse carer" and "widowed" reflect the assumption that all elderly people are heterosexual.
This can lead to a situation where an older gay man or lesbian is reluctant to disclose their sexuality and it is therefore unlikely that their needs will be met to the fullest extent possible. Harrison discusses a case in which a lesbian being admitted to a home felt unable to reveal that the "friend" accompanying her at admission was really her life partner. The partner was therefore not given the same visiting and decision- making rights as the woman's children. In fact, only a small percentage of the aged population ever requires nursing home care. But the fear of being "forced back into the closet" makes many gay and lesbian people reluctant to consider this as an option, and may influence their overall thinking about ageing.
A common viewpoint among health professionals is that a person's sexuality is "private" and not relevant to their treatment. Harrison argues that this is a barrier to a full understanding of a client's life experiences, and may also be a way of avoiding the need for change.
Harrison says that mass "outing" of elderly gay men and lesbians is not the answer, and they should not be required to overtly discuss their relationships. Gay men and lesbians who grew up prior to the advent of gay liberation may have lived their entire lives without revealing their sexuality and coming out may not be a feasible option for them.
This contrasts with mid-life gays and lesbians, who are more likely to have been through a "coming out" process and made choices about disclosure throughout their lives. However, Harrison says the crucial thing is for aged care services to "avoid assumptions which limit opportunities for coming out, while respecting diversity around identity, life history and self-understandings".
This includes understanding the choice not to identify as lesbian, gay, or even different. Overseas research has shown that many older lesbians, for example, do not apply this term to their own same-sex relationships or life arrangements. There are ways that aged care services can communicate to older gay men and lesbians through language, practices and symbols that can reassure them that an environment is non-discriminatory.
For example, application forms and interviews could refer to "significant people" rather than "husband or wife". Anecdotal evidence suggests that such subtle signals of openness have encouraged older gay clients to discuss issues and concerns that may otherwise have remained unaddressed.
Overt homophobia and abuse of gay and lesbian clients by nursing home staff are very important issues in the aged care context. Although there are no documented cases in formal complaints to government bodies, anecdotal evidence suggests that the problem certainly exists.
Harrison tells of one elderly man who had come out to the occupational therapist at a day centre after she asked whether he had a partner and what was their name. This enabled him to express some concerns that would otherwise have remained unaddressed.
However the Director of Nursing subsequently asked him to wear latex gloves while at the centre and threatened to refuse service to him if he did not comply. The occupational therapist managed to resolve the issue but it was a struggle and they had limited support from other staff.
Another elderly man was transferred from a retirement village to a psychiatric hospital because the management disapproved of his "younger male visitors". There are other cases of nurses refusing to bathe a "suspected lesbian" and elderly people being threatened with outing if they complained about how they were being treated.
Transgender and intersex people are also particularly vulnerable to discrimination in aged care settings, to the point where they may avoid seeking assistance altogether. There is anecdotal evidence of denial of services, forcibly preventing cross-dressing and deliberate physical violence when people are revealed to be transgender.
Transgender people may also have medical issues related their original gender that emerge with ageing, such as osteoporosis or prostate cancer. These may not be addressed because they may be too intimidated to seek medical advice of any kind.
Harrison says that aged care workers must develop a better understanding of diversity around sexuality issues in order to provide quality service to future clients who have not led closeted lives and need non- judgemental care and support. There have not yet been significant advances in this area in Australia.
Education of service providers is very important, and overseas evidence suggests that initiatives based on empowerment, involving gay and lesbian professionals from related organisations and organising speakers bureaux of older educators, have been particularly successful.
A Code of Ethics was developed for the Australian aged care industry in 2001, but this did not outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.
Recent legislative changes have addressed some of these concerns, but do not necessarily cover the special situation of older people who have lived a long life of non-disclosure. Areas such as superannuation, wills, next of kin and power of attorney are still problematic in this regard.
There have been developments in the USA in relation to ageing and sexuality. These include the establishment of a National Association of Lesbian and Gay Gerontology, the American Society on Ageing's Lesbian and Gay Ageing Issues Network, and some tertiary curricula that address gay and lesbian ageing issues. Some activist and support organisations are now also emerging in Australia. An improvement in understanding of the needs of gay and lesbian clients of aged care services, leading to greater empowerment and self advocacy, may result in unexpected outcomes and new options for action not previously considered.
------- End of forwarded message -------Inter~Section Part 1 - Introduction to Inter~Section
Inter~Section Part 2 - Information and Details
Inter~Section Part 3 - Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Ageing Issues
Inter~Section Part 3b - STUFF AGEISM! IT'S TIME TO GET ACTIVE
Inter~Section Part 3c - YOU DON'T HAVE TO ROLL UP YOUR BANNER WHEN YOU'RE SIXTY
Inter~Section Part 3d - ELDER ABUSE SUBMISSION
Inter~Section Part 3e - NOT ONLY AGEING, BUT GAY, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDER, PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS
Inter~Section Part 4 - Darebin Council and Sexual Minority Issues
Inter~Section Part 5 - Links Inter~Section Part 6 - 2006 to 2009 UPDATES Inter~Section Part 7 - 2009 EQUAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNS - PART 1 Inter~Section Part 8 - 2009 EQUAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNS - PART 2 Inter~Section Part 9 - 2009 EQUAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNS - PART 3 Inter~Section Part 10 - 2009 EQUAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNS - PART 4GAY AND LESBIAN HATE CRIMES - BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RECOMMENDED READING LIST
Mannie De Saxe also has a personal web site, which may be found by clicking on the link: RED JOS: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM
Mannie's blogs may be accessed by clicking on to the following links:
MannieBlog (from 1 August 2003 to 31 December 2005)
Activist Kicks Backs - Blognow archive re-housed - 2005-2009
RED JOS BLOGSPOT (from January 2009 onwards)
This page updated 21 MAY 2014 and again on 20 FEBRUARY 2016
PAGE 123