'The Best Is Still Ahead': I Spoke With LGBTQ+ People On Ageing Well. This Is What They Told Me

(MENAFN- The Conversation) What does it mean to live and age well?

My doctoral research sought to understand this from the perspective of LGBTQ+ people of diverse cultural backgrounds in Australia. I spoke with 14 people aged 50 and above about their hopes and fears of ageing.

Together, we discussed photographs they owned or have taken to represent their thoughts.

What they shared both extended and challenged existing perceptions of ageing well.

Being alone, lonely and vulnerable is the opposite of ageing well.

Paulo told me:

Taken at the front porch of his and his partner's home, Paulo's black and white photograph captures the helplessness and loneliness of ageing alone without partner and loved ones.

This fear transcends gender, sexuality and culture, present in reports of elder abuse and socially isolated older people.

This fear is heightened by discrimination. Ninu* said

Dion said:

The Royal Commission into Aged Care called for aged care policy and providers to be attentive to intersectional identities.

This means not seeing LGBTQIA+, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and culturally and linguistically diverse older people as three distinct groups, but understanding people can identify as belonging to more than one of these identities.

Ageing is a time for transformation and growth.

As mopoke* said:

Many I spoke to built a more authentic identity in the second half of their lives.

Stephanie's photograph and poem powerfully illustrate this:

In the photograph, Stephanie looks intently and directly at the camera as if to bare her soul for everyone to see or to judge. The poem highlights her struggle when transitioning, having to rebuild everything but also emerging stronger and better.

Many participants embraced their queer identities in recent years, looking forward to growth in the years ahead.

Paulo described this prospect after finally moving to Australia to be with his partner:

Among the photographs Paulo sent is one of him in his cycling gear, enjoying a sunny day. A perfectly ordinary photograph, depicting a chance to finally lead a peaceful life away from homophobia and discrimination.

Maintaining diverse kinship and support networks are crucial. Some participants had children and maintained close ties with their biological families. Some, like Daniel in this photograph, forged new ties through lifelong partnership:

Others like Masaru*, who migrated alone to Australia, found non-biological, chosen networks of support crucial:

Queer intergenerational and multicultural community, purposefully nurtured, keeps the people I spoke to hopeful about ageing.

Participants aspired to create community living or co-living where chosen and biological family could support them as they aged and needed increased support.

Ninu spoke of imagining:

Dion imagined“one big house” where his community could live together.

These co-living aspirations differ from current residential care, which moves people into places away from kin. They are not home care, where people are supported in their own homes. Instead, they relocate communities and kinship to support ageing in place.

So, what does ageing well mean? Seen through the lenses of LGBTQ+ people from diverse cultural backgrounds, it is more than eating, moving, thinking and connecting well.

It is about being able to create communities and homes with diverse kin, being treated respectfully and growing on your own terms.

As John succinctly shared, talking about his photograph of a sunset:

And it is about us as a society removing barriers and creating opportunities for this to happen, for older people, LGBTQ+, multicultural or otherwise.

*Some names have been changed.

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