LGBT Carers Group newsletter, April 2007

A warm welcome to the seventh edition of our newsletter. The major theme of this edition is 'meeting the needs of the single lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) person with dementia'. We hope you will find the contents both informative and thoughtprovoking.

We have always estimated that if five per cent of the adult population in this country is an LGBT person (and this is often challenged as an underestimate) then there are around 35,000 LGBT people with dementia. The American organisation SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment) estimates that 80 percent of older LGBTs are not in same-sex relationships, and if that is also true for the UK then there are even greater reasons to consider the needs of LGBTs with dementia. It is surely time for the LGBT community and for health and social service professionals to recognise that these significant figures merit closer attention and action.

This newsletter focuses largely on LGBT people in residential homes where we believe we are right to call attention to a serious need. Most of the articles relate to gay men but we hope very much that in future editions we might have similar articles about lesbian women, bisexuals and transgender people, and we would appeal for such contributions.

You may also have noticed a change in the title of our organisation. We felt that calling ourselves 'a lesbian and gay network' was not sufficiently inclusive and that the word 'network' did not adequately reflect the work we are doing. Language is always important and with this new title we want to say clearly that all LGBTs are welcome in this group. If we also achieve the new focus of serving LGBT people with dementia, as well as carers, then no doubt our title will change again! We are not complacent, nor do we feel that we have yet achieved all our aims and we are glad to be moving forward with our service.

Hopefully in April the legislation related to discrimination in the provision of goods and services on the grounds of sexual orientation will have been passed by both Houses of parliament and the law will at last protect us older LGBTs who are most likely to need such safeguards when it comes to social and health service provision. It is a major issue and we are delighted that a successful end is in sight.

Note: Highlights of this edition are available online.  Click on the article titles to read each article.  A downloadable pdf version of the newsletter is also available.