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“Will
you still need me when I’m 64?” The challenges and
opportunities facing the aging GLBT populations
W.
Randolph Herman.
School
of Social Work
College
of St Catherine & University of St Thomas
(Estados
Unidos)
In both the global
north and global south, nations are currently experiencing
the beginning of the largest aging cohort in history.
Although longevity is predicted it remains to be seen if
the passage will be one characterized by greater health
and quality of life or by greater illness/disability and
reduced quality of life. Maddox (1995) states” as
societies age they require transformation in existing
mind-sets in the areas of cultural attitudes, social
practices (e.g. work and retirement patterns), economics,
living arrangements and housing, health care and social
service delivery and the general scientific and medical
research agenda, among other things” (387). Yet there is
a paucity of international research about aging and the
GLBT community examining cross cultural strengths and
challenges. This paper will explore implications for elder
individuals and their communities in light of GLBT
developmental theory and provide an opportunity to debate
the current responses from a social justice perspective
Gay. Lesbian,
bisexual and transgender seniors have been referred to as
an “unseen minority: (Berger, 1982, 236) due to a
combination of ageism, homophobia, and heterosexism that
interact in a unique way in the GLBT community. When
mainstream gerontologists address aging, they most often
mean heterosexual elderly. Older cohorts of gay and
lesbian seniors have often ‘passed’ as heterosexual,
especially in their dealings with health care and social
services. Yet in the USA it is estimated that at least 4-8
million GLBT people are over the age of 60 ( Bargeron,
2006). Developmental theory has not adequately addressed
the implications of aging with a specific GLBT perspective
and experience. Cohorts of different age and ethnic/cultural
backgrounds will challenge mainstream responses to aging
as well as provide unique strengths and creative
adaptations to the last passages in living. Going from
being old to being old, old and possibly living beyond
resources and savings has major policy and financial
implications for local and federal government. Maggie
Kuhn, the Gray Panther warned as early as 1963 of the
danger of creating ‘sociogenic aging’, a tendency for
aging people to ultimately leave the work force and become
non-persons relegated to a health care warehouse or to a
recreation oasis. This tendency could have even a more
devastating and isolating impact on the GLBT community.
The major goal of
this paper (perhaps in conjunction with other presenters
on the panel) is to address the challenges, underline the
strengths, and explore creative responses to GLBT aging.
Especially in the global north, retirement at a set
chronological age has been enshrined as a point of
transition, an earned rite of passage from the world of
work. This paper will use Arnold van Gennep’s work on
the three phases of a rite of passage as a way of
exploring current and future responses to aging: 1.
Withdrawal from the current state of being, 2. liminality,
or a time between states of being, and 3. Finally
incorporation and moving into a new phase. The GLBT
population transitioning into retirement and lessening
their link to the world of work may face unique
psychological and social challenges in the early stages of
aging and depending on their health status, face
functional challenges later that may or may not correspond
with their chronological age. But for many groups who are
oppressed, they also develop unique coping skills, which
may enhance their transitioning into the last phases of
their life. For example research shows the importance of
support networks in aging and many GLBT people have
developed fictive families in their coming out process and
will be able to rely on them in times of need.
The paper will
also raise questions as to future of the aging GLBT
communities and the need for nuanced research to explore
the diversity of social class, race, ethnicity and
cognitive/physical abilities in order to address
accessible and affordable housing, physical and mental
health care, as well as social and spiritual resources.
Quantity of life is only one part of the equation: this
conference offers a rare opportunity to examine the
quality of later life from a global perspective.
References:
Bargeron, C.
(2006) Aging Well: Narratives of GLBT Seniors. Unpublished Manuscript,
University of St Thomas, St Paul, MN.
Berger, R. (1982).
The unseen minority: Older gays and lesbians. Social
Work, 27(3). 236-242.
Maddox, G. (1995).
Encyclopedia of Aging, 2nd edition. New York: Spring
Publishing.
About
Randy Herman
Dr Randy Herman is
the Director of the BSW Program at the College of St
Catherine and University of St Thomas School of Social
Work. He was the co-director of a three year Hartford
Foundation Grant (2001-2003) on the infusion of aging
material into the social work curriculum at the
undergraduate and graduate level. He has over 30 years of
practice experience in mental heatlh, HIV/AIDS and aging
services. In Spring 2006 he did a research project on the
aging professorate and examined retirement as a rite of
passage. He taught for two semesters at Augsburg’s
College Center for Global Education in Cuernavaca, Mexico
and is part of the sponsoring eight university
consortium that promotes bi-lingual social work education.
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