DIVA spoke to Bridget Symonds – the new chief executive of the UK’s largest charity that supports and celebrates LGBTQIA people over 50
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY DIVERSIFYLENS
For most of the UK’s older LGBTQIA population, their lives have been punctured by an unimaginable amount of trauma. Most were forced to hide their sexuality throughout their younger years for fear of being arrested, persecuted, abused, or ignored. They lived through the criminalisation of homosexuality, Section 28, and the AIDS epidemic, among other deeply difficult periods of time.
However, in 2023 this generation is facing a whole host of new challenges. Loneliness. Isolation. A lack of basic understanding of the LGBTQIA community in care-related services or healthcare.
Opening Doors, the largest UK charity providing activities, events, information and support services specifically LGBTQIA people over the age of 50, is aiming to change this.
From support groups, events, and one-to-one support, Opening Doors is providing the older queer community with the chance to access happiness and care in ageing. We sat down with Bridget Symonds (she/her), Opening Doors’ new CEO, to talk about the importance of not only supporting LGBTQIA elders but also making them visible.
How and why did you get involved with Opening Doors?
My background is in domestic and sexual abuse, and social justice more generally. Before Opening Doors, I was working in a service for older people who were fleeing domestic abuse. I was really struck by the fact that we invisiblize older people more generally. I think that we don’t see their needs in the same way that we see younger people’s needs.
I want to create a world that we want to grow old in. For me, that means having an understanding and some depth of knowledge about the experience of older LGBTQIA people. People often think that because older people are towards the end of their lives their issues don’t really matter.
They have grown up in a world where their queerness was never welcomed and they were made to feel stigmatised and persecuted. They were physically and mentally attacked. My hope is that we can make a society for them where they can live and love, and get old in the same way that we would hope for everybody.
What are the main projects you want to focus on with Opening Doors?
We’re the only national charity which works with LGBTQIA people over 50. For me, it’s about having a person-centred approach to our services. We offer activities and have monthly events.
Opening Doors started as a gay men’s group in Hampstead 20 years ago. We’re now an independent charity that works with the whole LGBTQIA community. It’s about recognising that there is a diversity of needs in the community, and acknowledging that in the past women, trans and non-binary people have often been left out of the picture.
There’s a whole population of people coming out later in life as trans and non-binary. I want people to feel like there’s a safe space to do that and that they’re not alone. I don’t think it’s a particularly safe environment to be LGBTQIA right now – especially if you’re trans. Our trans and gender-diverse families are constantly being attacked by those whom we should look to for support and reinforcements.
I don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach, and I don’t want that. Intersectionality has to be central to our work, particularly thinking about centralising anti-racism and other forms of discrimination within our work. Everyone’s experience is unique and we have to consider everything and anything that can marginalise people. That is why I am also hugely excited and committed to developing our people of colour and dementia work and feel this is vital for Opening Doors to thrive.
What are the issues facing older queer people in care homes and why can they be daunting places for LGBTQIA people?
We have this misguided idea as a society that things are much better than they are. We still live in a society where it can be scary to be out. Ageing is very difficult and control gets taken away from you. We also become very reliant on things like family – for older LGBTQIA people, there is a lack of understanding in care homes about chosen family or what family looks like. Our LGBTQIA elders don’t always have huge communities or connections around them so they can feel very lonely.
Older LGBTQIA people can face everything from inadvertent exclusion to overt discrimination. For instance, a lack of staff training on LGBTQIA issues can lead to insensitivity towards residents’ identities and relationships. There are also instances where LGBTQIA residents have felt compelled to “go back into the closet” for fear of prejudice or having suffered physical and psychological abuse due to their queer identity. Addressing these issues is not just about policy changes; it’s about cultural shifts within care settings.
Through Opening Doors, we address these challenges by providing accredited training to care home staff, ensuring that they’re equipped to create inclusive and supportive environments for all residents.
How can people support Opening Doors?
The funding landscape is really difficult. We’ve just launched an Emergency Appeal to keep our doors open and continue the work that we’re doing. We are always looking for people to volunteer. We literally couldn’t do our work without them. Our volunteers are our backbone. You could even do a fundraiser for us to help us get our message out.
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