Policy

Opening Doors is the umbrella title of our developing programme of publications, resources and events for and about older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in the UK.

The situation for most lesbian, gay and bisexual people at the beginning of the 21st century is more positive, secure and affirming than ever before.

However, we recognise older people have lived a large part of their lives in less liberal times and their experiences have made them understandably wary and cautious. In practice, this means older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals:

• are less likely to access services;
• face a number of unique problems as they age, from the attitudes of mainstream providers, who regularly assume all the older people they serve are heterosexual;
• have significantly diminished support networks in times of crisis.

So whilst we look forward to working within an increasingly positive legal framework we recognise the challenges we still face, along with all organisations that work for the benefit of older people, in terms of meeting the needs of minority communities.

We are committed to the promotion of good practice and to taking positive initiatives to create an environment of positive acceptance and welcome for all our lesbian, gay and bisexual clients, staff and volunteers.

Background

The national Opening Doors programme began in 1999, with a series of training programmes around lesbian, gay and bisexual ageing. See our training page for details of courses currently on offer.

In 2001 we published Opening Doors – A Resource Pack, which advises organisations on how to make their services more welcoming and inclusive of older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Further professional resources have been developed, all of which are FREE and accessible via our publications page.

The programme was publicly launched with the high-profile national Opening Doors Conference in 2002, which brought together for the first time older people, statutory service providers, voluntary organisations and representatives of Government to begin addressing the needs of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals as the population ages.

Summer 2004 saw the appointment of our first National Development and Policy Officer with a specific brief to develop work with and for older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. At the same time, a growing number of local and regional Age Concern initiatives for older lesbians, gay men and bisexuals have been developing around the country.

Contact us

Email:
Opening Doors