LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Happy October, Members, Allys and Friends!

First of all, a big congratulations to the team who launched GRAI’s intergenerational playgroup on September 29th. It’s a really exciting step for us. Thanks to those who attended the first session and we look forward to seeing more of you at the next session in October.

This month will be a short note. A reminder about the quality of life survey. With over 100 responses so far, it will give us a good sense of the services/supports that our community needs in the future. This survey will continue to run through Seniors Week as part of Pride Month.

Please watch your email boxes. Membership renewals will come out this week. This years Annual General Meeting is scheduled for the 3rd of December.

GRAI has a number of events over Seniors Week in Pride Month. During that week (November 7th to 13th) we will be based at the Centre for Stories in the Hay Street Mall. We look forward to seeing you at one of those events. Stay tuned to our Facebook, Website and Newsletters.

Lastly, many of you will be aware of MonkeyPox. Presently there is a finite number of vaccines available. If you need support please contact one of the sexual health clinics https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/J_M/Monkeypox

See you at a GRAI event soon,

With Pride,

Michael
Chair, GRAI Board

QUALITY OF LIFE SURVEY

As part of its Village Hub project, GRAI is conducting a quality-of-life survey of LGBTI people 50 +years. Survey results will help GRAI to develop services that better meet the needs of different groups of LGBTI elders in Western Australia.

The survey is open until the end of the year, and we want to reach as many as possible; particularly those not connected to community and those in the regional and rural areas of WA.

Please share the survey with friends and through your networks.

The outcomes from the survey will be available as a community report and will help guide GRAI’s work into the future.

To complete the survey online, click here.

For a printable copy of they survey, please email villagehub@grai.org.au and to do the survey by telephone, please text 0439 368 023. 

COMING UP

LGBTI ELDERS GAMES HUBS

Coming up in October, we have three games hub events; one in the Perth CBD, one NOR and one SOR:

• CBD – Thursday  6th October at Citiplace Community Centre, Upper Level Walkway, City Railway Station Complex (near the Art Gallery), 1-3pm.

• NOR – Monday 19th October at Community Vision Social Centre, 5 Trappers Drive, Woodvale (the building is further up the driveway, past the library), 2-4pm.

• SOR – Wednesday October 26th, at Fremantle Library (downstairs in the Lab, back wall of the library), 151 High Street, Fremantle, 1-3pm

We specialise in laughter, chocolate biscuits and good coffee… we also learn a new game or play an old favourite. There is a game for everyone (straight-forward or complex).

Here are the dates and venues for the rest of 2022!

Download the 2022 flier to share here

If you need more information or you would like support getting there, please contact Rowan at villagehub@grai.org.au or call 0493 368 023 

MENTAL HEALTH WEEK LUNCH

Come and enjoy a free lunch with us as we celebrate Mental Health Week with LGBTI stories of resilience and celebration!

You can download a copy of the flier here!

LGBTI INTERGENERATIONAL PLAYGROUP

The first playgroup session at the Fremantle library was thoroughly enjoyed by the five participants who came. We had a wonderful time chatting and playing. The sessions are well supported by the library staff with a great range of toys and games for all ages. 

The next GRAI LGBTI Intergenerational Playgroup is coming up on Wednesday, October 19th, 9.30am – 12.30pm at the Fremantle Library. All LGBTI people, both big and small are welcome.

Download a copy of the flier here.

WOMEN’S DANCE

This is a unique opportunity to enjoy women’s only space, dance your heart out with a live DJ, and purchase drinks at the licensed bar. So dust off your dancing shoes, invite some friends, and purchase your tickets online or at the door!

You can download a copy of the flier here

SENIORS WEEK – November 7th – 13th

LGBTIQA+ INTERGENERATIONAL HOUSING FORUM

Happening on Monday 7th November (2-4pm), this is an opportunity to discuss our proposed intergenerational LGBTI housing forum. Essentially, we want to bring together elders with a spare room with students who need accommodation.

We can see many benefits to this arrangement, including company, intergenerational sharing of culture and lived experience as an LGBTI person, and shared support such as assistance with gardening or cooking and learning English as a second language. Come along to hear our guest speaker, and to share your ideas and enthusiasm!

To book your place on Eventbrite, click here.
To download the flier to share, click here.

BEFRIENDER PROGRAM

On Tuesday 8th November, 10am – 12pm, we will be presenting information about GRAI’s LGBTI Elders Befriender Program. This is a great opportunity for people working with LGBTI Elders to learn more about the program and learn how to refer peopleasell as for potential Befrienders and Befriendees to connect with us.

We will have a pop-up LGBTI Elders Games Hub and morning tea… feel free to join us for a game and a cuppa 🙂

To book your place on Eventbrite, click here.
To download a copy of the flier to share, click here.

TENDER FUNERALS DOCUMENTARY

Tender, the documentary directed by Lynette Wallworth and produced by Kath Shelper, tells the story of a feisty and resilient community group in Port Kembla who decided to take back the control and responsibility of caring for, and burying their loved ones. 
 
Scattered throughout this documentary are stories that cut to the core, revealing why this community have decided to take on a practice that for most is taboo. As their plans for community-based funerals gather momentum, one of their own is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Tender is at once a heartbreakingly beautiful and funny glimpse of an extraordinary community taking on one of the most essential challenges of human life…its end.
 
The Tender documentary and a crowdfunding campaign led by Jenny Briscoe-Hough and the Port Kembla community, raised more than $120,000 to buy an old fire station and convert it to the first Tender Funerals site in 2016.
 
Tender Funerals have a mission to provide personalised and affordable funerals, and to demystify the funeral process and put it back in the hands of the grieving.

Tender Funerals are low-cost. Any profits go towards providing meaningful and affordable funerals, ensuring that everyone can afford a Tender funeral.  A Tender funeral empowers families to have funerals and practices which reflect the wishes of the person who has died, their family and community.

All Tender Funerals services are owned and operated by their local community as social franchises of Tender Funerals Australia. Families are encouraged to use their communities and network as a resource to create the funeral that feels right for them.

There has been a surge of interest from communities across Australia, who want to start their own Tender. With the support and encouragement of Social Ventures Australia (SVA) and Social Enterprise Finance Australia (SEFA), Tender Funerals Australia was established in 2020 as a not-for-profit to support and resource a network of services around Australia.

There are currently two operational sites in NSW and five communities working to establish a Tender (Perth, Tasmania, Canberra, Far North QLD and Melbourne).

GRAI has organised a FREE showing of the Tender documentary

Wednesday 9^th November 2-4pm

City of Perth Library Auditorium,
573 Hay Street, Perth.

Please register with Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tender-documentary-tickets-402264342477

Following the documentary representatives from Tender Funerals Perth will hold a Q&A for the LGBTI community.  

Download the flier to share here.

TIM GRANT EXHIBITION

Tim Grant (aka pictim) was born in WA, spent his formative years growing up around Fremantle, and later worked travelling war torn countries documenting the fight against landmines.
 
While studying photography at Mount Lawley, Tim experimented and practiced his craft by capturing the local 80s culture around him. Times were different for a photographer then; nobody objected to being photographed in the street, and using film meant being very selective with the imagery. Plus, any sort of recording devices were strictly forbidden in the gay nightclub scene. 

These images are a collection from special events: The Clarendon Fete, Gay Olympics, Pride parades, Tim’s friends, artists and performers, and selective portraits of Drag Queens, punks and acquaintances. 

Click here to register
Click here to download a flier to share

INTERGENERATIONAL PANEL ON AGEISM

This will be an interesting and thought-provoking discussion about ageism, its impacts within the LGBTI communities, and what can be done to address it and strengthen intergenerational relationships. Enjoy some light refreshments and good conversations at the free event.

You can register for this event here.

You can download a copy of the flier here.

ADVANCE NOTICE OF GRAI’s AGM

GRAI’s AGM will take place on Saturday 3rd December between 10am and 12pm at the Southcare Hall, 19 Pether Rd, Manning. All GRAI members are welcome to attend.

GRAI PRIDE PARADE FLOAT

GRAI will be having a float in the Pride Parade this year (2022) and if you would like to walk with GRAI, please RSVP to Kedy eo@grai.org.au by 28^th October.

CONTACT GRAI

Your views are important

If you have news or views to share that are relevant to making the world a better place for LGBTI elders, contact: info@grai.org.au. We look forward to hearing from you, or seeing you at one or several of our upcoming events!

GRAI’s new contact address:

PO Box 350
Mt Hawthorn
WA 6915

Staff Contacts

If you would like to contact Kedy Kristal (Executive Officer), please email her at eo@grai.org.au or call her Mobile: 0484 639 886

If you would like to contact Rowan Brooker (Befriender Coordinator/Newsletter Coordinator), please email him at villagehub@grai.org.au or call him on 0493 368 023 on Wednesdays or Thursdays (or text/leave a message).

REGULARS!

QUEER BOOK CLUB OCTOBER MEETING

For November we are reading our first queer graphic novel – Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. This “tragicomic” memoir  is a witty, melancholic, and endearing insight into grief, sexuality and a search for happiness. Bechdel is known for her syndicated comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” and this book has been described as “A comic book for lovers of words!” and “The artist’s work is so absorbing you feel you are living in her world”.

Also of note is that the book has been made into a queer musical that looks at the life of this amazing woman, so expect some show songs at our next Queer BookClub meeting which is on Wed 26^th Oct at 6pm at Connect Vic Park.

Queer BookClub is supported by Crow Books Vic Park and Dept of Communities.

BOOK REVIEWS

~A Previous Life, by Edmund White~

Sometimes the best book for Queer BookClub is the one that everyone has a opinion on… and not all the opinions align…
 A Previous Life, by Edmund White was, depending on who you ask, either a pretentious piece of wank, erotica, or a delightful novel that examines conventions of marriage and love as well as bisexuality and polyamory (that’s my view!). It seemed the only part of the book that BookClub could agree on was the repetitive use of the phrase “his big uncut Scillian cock”!
So, love it or hate it, A Previous Life got us all talking and cringing (gay men shouldn’t write about lesbian sex!) and even laughing – all of which is in my opinion the sign of a good book. So much so that the time flew by quickly.
For a book set in 2050, the future feels very much like today, with landline phones and social media and the good news is COVID has passed. Some of the characters provide little nuggets of gold into the insight of human behaviour, which the author then rushes past to the next raunchy sex scene.
Edmund White weaves himself in and out of the story and in one part it seems this book is about how we view our legacy. In his case, his fear of becoming “a writer no one’s ever heard of except for a few old queens” – something that is hardly likely to happen to an author like Edmund White.
Overall the book got 1.9 unicorns and the members of Queer BookClub refused to allow it to be rounded up to a 2 – and yes I HATE fractions!
David Gibson
A novel about love, lust, bisexuality, infidelity, cruelty and kindness, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The writing is beautiful, masterful, and the story told through multiple POVs, which seamlessly switch mid-chapter in a clever-clever way. Two characters that most stood out to me were Ruggero, naturally, and his lover, Edmund, the rest blending together somewhat into facelessness, a little forgettable even. Ultimately I enjoyed this novel, although it was neither an easy nor a pleasant read…
I gave it four unicorns.
Dallas Jay

🌈 Queer BookClub Facebook Group 📚

MEET N MUSE

Meet n Muse (MnM) discussion group for older LBT women, has two locales:

• The Perth group has, by agreement with regular attendees, cancelled its meetings for the time being. The group will resume meeting at Citiplace when members feel comfortable to begin meeting in person again. Perth attendees are welcome to attend the Mandurah meetings, which are held outdoors.
• The Mandurah group is meeting on the 1st and 3rd Sundays as usual (1.30pm), at an outdoor venue.

Musers usually discuss a given topic of interest for 1 hour, then mosey on to a nearby café. New members are always welcome, please contact Pam for further information and to confirm meeting dates/times and location: GRAIPamm@gmail.com or 0420 929 583.

PRIME TIMERS

Prime Timers is a vibrant social club for mature gay and bisexual men, offering a full calendar of diverse activities to keep you well-connected and enjoying life. Meetings are held 2pm on the second Sunday of each month, at ‘The Homestead’ 5 Mackie St, Vic Park, with a guest speaker and afternoon tea. Other activities include dinner nights, coffee mornings, lunch club, book club and special outings. Visit www.primetimerswa.com.au

OUTdance

OUTdance is the place to go to get fit and have fun  They hold LGBTI community dance classes every Tuesday from 7:00pm at the Mt Hawthorn Community Hall, 197 Scarborough Beach Rd. Relaxed and non-competitive, OUTdance always welcomes new members. Contact Jan on 0401 700 562 or visit the website here.

PERTH OUTDOOR GROUP

Perth Outdoors Group are mature age LGBTI folk who enjoy a wide range of social activities (not always outdoors!) Functions are held monthly on weekends and there’s also a monthly coffee club. For further info visit https://www.perthoutdoorsgroup.com/

RAINBOW TOASTMASTERS

Find your voice at Perth Rainbow Toastmasters! Develop confidence in public speaking, communication, leadership and presentation skills… in an LGBTI+ friendly environment… Rainbow Toastmasters meet 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, 2-4pm, Level 1, 931 Albany Highway. Contact Tim, perthrainbowtm@gmail.com or 0403 051 081. FB: Perth-Rainbow-Toastmasters.

POETRY CORNER

This month we have a Haiga (haiku and artwork) to share, created by one of our members, Maureen Sexton. Thank you Maureen! 

If you have some poetry that you’d like to share with GRAI readers, please send it to villagehub@grai.org.au

Contact maureensexton@yahoo.com.au
 
Instagram Haiku and Haiga – https://www.instagram.com/maureensextonhaikuhaiga/ 
Instagram Art – https://www.instagram.com/maureensextonart/?hl=en 
Instagram Photography – https://www.instagram.com/maureensextonphotography/?hl=en
Art on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/artwithmaureen/

TOPICS OF INTEREST

Special Dates in October

Ageism Awareness Day (7th)

Ageism Awareness Day  “Successful ageing” is not an oxymoron. As we grow older, our physical functioning declines, but our mental and social functioning tends to improve. Physical capacity and mental speed begin to decline around age 30, and even more noticeably after age 50.

“Crystallized” cognitive skills at age 75 are roughly equivalent to those at age 20. These are the intellectual abilities based on the accumulation of knowledge, facts, skills, and experiences throughout life, such as verbal skills and inductive reasoning. Why …… looks good for their age is NOT a compliment!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQwJNYYlkQA

International Lesbian Day (8th)

International Lesbian Day is an annual awareness day that celebrates the L in LGBTQ+. Predominantly observed in Australia and New Zealand, it is a celebration of lesbian culture and identity.

International Lesbian Day is celebrated on October 8. The origins of the day are unclear. According to some sources, it was first observed in New Zealand in 1980 with a Lesbian Day March on International Women’s Day (March 8). Other accounts claim that the day started about a decade later. Be that as it may, the observance has been around since at least the early 1990s.

National Coming Out Day (11th)

National Coming Out Day was first celebrated in 1988. Over 30 years later, it’s still in our calendars – but why do we need it? 

National Coming Out Day is an annual celebration which takes place on 11 October every year. It was first celebrated on the one-year anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights – a date chosen to honour the bravery of LGBTQ+ individuals who decide to come out and live openly. Although it started off as an American awareness day, the meaning of National Coming Out Day is still highly relevant to LGBTQ+ communities across the world today.

Coming out is a unique experience for each LGBTQ+ person. It’s not a one-time event; many LGBTQ+ individuals who come out to their closest friends and family may later come out at work or school, to their extended family, or to casual acquaintances.

For some, coming out is no longer a big deal – it can be a simple matter of correcting someone’s assumptions about you, or introducing your partner. For others, coming out is still a huge challenge. The very real fear of facing discrimination, bullying, or judgement can cause LGBTQ+ people to stay ‘in the closet’, struggling with anxiety while they strive to be themselves.https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/why-do-we-need-national-coming-out-day

International Pronouns Day (19th)

International Pronouns Day seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace.

Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Being referred to by the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people. Together, we can transform society to celebrate people’s multiple, intersecting identities.https://pronounsday.org/

Intersex Awareness Day (26th)

Intersex awareness day is designed to highlight the human rights issues facing intersex people globally, and to encourage visibility, education and inclusion of people with intersex variation.

Activities could include intersex awareness and education within agencies. For example, Intersex Human Rights Australia has a range of resources including videos on how to be a good intersex ally. Agencies could consider developing a gender-neutral language guide to encourage the use of gender neutral pronouns in agency communications. 

https://www.forgov.qld.gov.au/news-events-and-consultation/events/intersex-awareness-day-2022

Monkeypox in WA

As of 14 September 2022, there have been six cases of monkeypox notified in Western Australia. All have been acquired overseas

• Monkeypox is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus.
• Monkeypox is most often spread through close skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the infection, for example during sex. It can also be spread in other ways, such as through prolonged face-to-face contact via respiratory droplets.
• There is currently a multi-country outbreak of monkeypox.
• Most cases in Australia have acquired monkeypox overseas, however some infections have been acquired in Australia.
• If you develop symptoms you are urged to seek medical care, wear a mask and call ahead to make sure you can be isolated away from others.

Register your interest to get vaccinated
A limited supply of vaccines against monkeypox are now available. Register your interest to receive the monkeypox vaccine by completing this form: https://redcap.link/WAHealthEOIJYNNEOS

A Window to the Brain: The Retina Gives Away Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease and Could Help with Early Detection

A growing body of research suggests the retina is thinner in people with Alzheimer’s disease, reflecting the cell loss that is a hallmark of the neurodegenerative disease.
We investigated a group of middle-aged people who are part of the Dunedin Study, a comprehensive longitudinal project that has continued for five decades. We found people with thinner retinal nerve fibre layers (one of the cell layers in the retina) had slower mental processing speed. This is one of the first cognitive processes to decline in Alzheimer’s disease.
The people in our study were 45 years old, which is young for investigating age-related neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. But treatments and interventions are most effective when administered during the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s and it is crucial to find ways of identifying people’s risk as early as possible. Easy risk identification will also help with clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease treatments.

Original Article Published in The Conversation, 6 September 2022

Read the full article here.

Augmented Reality Glasses Enable the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Augmented reality glasses, ‘Xrai Glass’, you can buy which turn voices into subtitles in your field of view and you can translate from almost any language to another. Xrai Glass costing £395, as it is a UK invention, which is just under $700 in Australia, these glasses actually deliver what Google was showcasing at its most recent major conference called Google I/O earlier this year. The inventor, Dan Scarfe noticed at a family event that his grandfather was sitting on the couch and not able to interact, because of his deafness. He realised his grandfather used subtitles when watching TV, so why weren’t there subtitles in real life? Of course you need augmented reality glasses and software that is capable of listening to what is being said and converted in real time to text, and because the technology actually exists to do this, he was able to create a custom system for his grandfather that he has now commercialised.

The ‘Xrai Glass’ founders say they enrich and empower lives by giving people the tools to be themselves. Enabling the deaf and hard of hearing is just the beginning. It would also enable deaf people to experience radio. Currently, the system is best used on a one-on-one basis but the founders are working hard to make it work as smoothly as possible when you have multiple speakers speaking. It also points to an incredible future where modern life will be greatly augmented with glasses of this type, and of course eventual contact lenses which can do the same thing.

For further information the Xrai.Glass website is located at: https://xrai.glass

Queensland Police Service Commits to Apology to LGBTIQ+ Community

This weekend, police officers again won’t march in uniform in the city’s annual Pride March until the apology for historical mistreatment is made. The two organisations confirmed the commitment to the apology in a joint statement on Wednesday, in full below.

The committee of Brisbane Pride Incorporated and the Queensland Police Service have committed to collaborate on a formal apology to be delivered in early 2023.

We have unfortunately not been able to finalise the process in time for the Brisbane Pride Festival March and Rally and while police have been invited to march in 2022, they have been respectfully asked to not do so in uniform.
Both the QPS and Brisbane Pride Inc remain committed to this process which would enable uniformed officers to show their pride by marching in uniform once again in 2023.

We acknowledge the difficulties this process of change can place on members of the QPS who members of the LGBTIQ are also+ community.
In August 2021, the committee invited serving Queensland police officers to march in that year’s Brisbane Pride Festival March and Rally but asked that officers not march in uniform.

At the time, the decision was not made lightly, and it followed a process of having conversations and spending time listening to the real and current concerns of many members of our communities.

The decision to communicate that decision to the QPS, was done as a way to begin a conversation that would ultimately bring all community together to discuss meaningful and sustainable change, and to find ways to actively work together towards that change.

Those conversations have continued over the past 12 months. Both organisations agree that a formal apology by the police is one of the steps that is needed for us to move forward for a positive future.

Article Published in QNews, 21 September, 2022

You can read the original article here. 

RESEARCH OF INTEREST

GRAI Research Summary #1:  LGBTIQ+ Housing, Homelessness, and Social Support

Australia’s LGBTIQ+ population continues to experience stigma-related harm and faces numerous social and health-related burdens, including adverse physical and mental health challenges, poverty, and unstable housing or homelessness. This brief summary of research around LGBTIQ+ housing features risk factors for homelessness and the importance of social networks as a protective measure and a source of support.

LGBTIQ+ people are more likely to experience homelessness than straight people. According to results from the Private Lives 3 survey, around 22% of LGBTIQ+ participants experienced homelessness.

The Out of the Closet, Out of Options report features the results of 228 surveys exploring current housing circumstances for older LGBTI people in Victoria. “Importantly, many LGBTI older people do not recognise they are at risk or, by definition, experiencing homelessness and are unaware of support services available. For instance, living alone and being unable to pay the rent or mortgage places you at risk of homelessness. Our survey showed over 33% of LGBTI older people living in rental properties are unable to afford their rent, of this group, almost half live alone and of those who own their home with a mortgage, over 48% are concerned about their housing in the future. Yet they did not identify as being at risk of homelessness” (Housing for the Aged Action Group in Victoria 2020:18).

Risk factors for the homelessness of older people often result from experiences of stigma, homophobia, prejudice, and discrimination that accumulate across the life course. There are shreds of evidence in the international literature around the precarity of older LGBTIQ+ peoples’ housing situations and risk factors associated with this, including:

• Lack of affordable housing for LGBTIQ+ people; lack of investment in social housing, including intergenerational co-housing opportunities. 

• Prejudice, homophobic and transphobic discrimination in private rental accommodation.

• Lack of home ownership: Older same-sex couples are less likely to be homeowners than their non-LGBTIQ+ peers, more likely to own their house with a mortgage, and more likely to be renting, increasing the risk of homelessness due to unaffordability and short-term renting options.

• Structural stigma and institutional discrimination, which results in LGBTIQ+ people’s negative experiences. Workplace discrimination, prejudice, and harassment result in adverse effects on mental and physical health, reduced opportunities for retirement savings due to fewer years of income, excluding some people from buying property.

• Sexual orientation/gender wage gaps: The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) research found that gay men are less likely to be continuously employed and that they earn approx. 20% less than straight men due to workforce discrimination. The 45 and Up Study found that gay men in NSW were much more likely to have income under $50.000 than their heterosexual peers, with the difference being highest among those aged 65. One explanation is that gay men ‘avoid’ male-dominated jobs, which are better paid. It was found that lesbian women tended to earn more than their heterosexual counterparts (Sabia & Wooden 2015).

• Social support: Compared to the general population, LGBTIQ+ people are more likely to live alone, not be married orin formal relationships, have weaker kinship networks, and not have children. Limited social support and institutional avoidance increase the chances of elderly abuse; when it happens, the abuse is not reported, and the older person is at risk of homelessness due to blackmail, manipulation, and misinformation. Living alone means there are no witnesses in the case of abuse.

• Culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) LGBTIQ+ people have unique housing experiences. For example, they are more likely to live in private rentals (38%) and their support networks are crucial for housing stability.

• Older Trans and Gender Diverse (TGD) people have the lowest rate of home ownership (14%). These groups are invisible in research and service delivery (Housing for the Aged Action Group in Victoria 2020: 10). More trans and gender diverse participants experienced homelessness compared with cisgender participants; with more than one-third (34.3%; n = 103) of trans men, 33.8% (n = 311) of non-binary participants and (31.9%; n = 91) of trans women reporting ever experiencing homelessness compared to 19.8% (n = 584) of cisgender women and 16.8% (n = 391) of cisgender men (Private Lives 3, 2020).

Graph 1

Source: Hill, A. O., Bourne, A., McNair, R., Carman, M. & Lyons, A. (2020). Private Lives 3: The health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ people in Australia. ARCSHS Monograph Series No. 122. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University.

Research finds that LGBTIQ+ people declaring that they have secure housing are also more likely to report having people to rely on and being well-connected to the community, which is an essential source of social support for LGBTIQ+ people of all ages. However, families of choice and personal social support network members tend to be unigenerational, meaning that as LGBTIQ+ people age, so too do their families of choice, often resulting in networks that have reduced capacity to provide support, as members might start experiencing decreasing health and increased care needs at a similar period of time (Bloemen et al., 2019).

National and international intergenerational/multigenerational housing models are proven to increase the sense of stable housing and increase social support of co-residents, including younger and older LGBTIQ+ generations. For example, the Lebensort Vielfalt is a home with 24 flats for intergenerational living in Berlin, with a focus on older gay men (Lebensort Vielfalt).

GRAI’s Quality of Life Survey includes questions on our LGBTI elders and their social networks, social support, housing security and financial wellbeing. Your answers to these questions will help GRAI to identify those in our communities with housing issues, and will give GRAI the ability to apply for funding for research and projects designed to address the housing needs of our LGBTI+ elders.
You can complete the survey here. 

References

Sabia, J., & Wooden, M. (2015). Sexual Identity, Earnings, and Labour Market Dynamics: New Evidence from Longitudinal Data in Australia”, Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 8/15 

https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/working-paper-series/wp2015n08.pdf

McNair, R., Andrews, C., Parkinson, S., Dempsey, D. (2017). LGBTQ Homelessness: Risks, Resilience, and Access to Services in Victoria. GALFA LGBTQ Homelessness Research Project (Final Report).
https://www.lgbtihomeless.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/LGBTQ-Homelessness-project-Final-report-September-2017-Final_.pdf

Fraser, B., Pierse, N., Chisholm, E., & Cook, H. (2019). LGBTIQ+ Homelessness: A Review of the Literature. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 16(15), 2677.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6695950/

Alba, B., Lyons, A., Waling, A., et al. (2019). Demographic and Psychosocial Predictors of Housing Security in Older Lesbian and Gay Australians. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 89(1):57-76. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0091415019843449

Citation: Krzyzowski, L and Brooker, R. (2022). GRAI Research Summary #1: LGBTQI+ Housing, Homelessness, and Social Support. Perth WA: GLBTI Rights in Ageing, Inc (GRAI).

Considering Older Women’s Housing Needs Through an Architectural Perspective

A winner in the 2022 Good Design Awards.

A Design Guide for Older Women’s Housing addresses a gap in research that considers older women’s housing needs through an architectural perspective and is focused on the importance of placing women at the centre of the design process by involving them in conversations about housing types and spatial arrangements.

You can read more about this research here.

OPPORTUNITIES OF INTEREST

Kyloring Housing Cooperative

The next online information session for the Kyloring Housing Co-operative is being held next Tuesday the 4th of October 2022. Bring your questions.

Register Here

Are you interested in living in a housing co-operative? If so, we have two opportunities that may be suitable for those willing to live in accordance with the co-operative values, and who will contribute to the management of the Co-operative and their homes. This includes taking part in meetings, organising maintenance, bookkeeping and tenant selection.

Don’t worry if you don’t already have these skills as you will be provided with training and support.

The 1st opportunity is for a mature woman to live with two other mature woman in a 4 bedroom house in North Perth.

The 2nd opportunity is for three people to rent a single storey, three bedroom villa, which is in Yokine.

All of the homes are within walking distance to shops and public transport and are available to people who qualify for social housing.

Both of this opportunities are available to move into following attendance at the Co-op’s next meeting, which is scheduled for the 23rd of October 2022.

To apply, email admin@co-operationhousing.org.au and request an application form.

Women’s Intentional Community Hamilton Hill Open House

SAVE THE DATE!
20 November, 2-4pm
27 Fulton Street Hamilton Hill

The WIC Open House is your chance to learn all about this innovative project and meet the women behind it. You may decide this is where you want to live too!

– Learn about WIC’s values and mission.
– Hear from our architect, Michelle Blakely, to find out about the many sustainability/ energy and water efficiency benefits of this community.

– Check out the virtual tour and walk the site to experience how it will be laid out.

– Enjoy an afternoon tea in the lovely native gardens around which the super energy-efficient and sustainable dwellings will be constructed.

RSVP for catering to leahknapp1964 (at) gmail.com

LGBTIQA+ Rights in Western Australia

Petition is open for electronic signatures until 13^th October

To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned …

While we welcome the government’s recent announcement regarding the review of the Equal Opportunity Act, we remain deeply concerned that the rights of LGBTIQA+ Western Australians have fallen behind the rights of LGBTIQA+ people in other Australian States.

This is causing preventable harm and disadvantage to Western Australians.

We call on the Legislative Council to inform itself of these impacts, and accordingly amend Western Australia’s laws, including by legislating to:

– In consultation with the LGBTIQA+ community, implement the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission’s review of the Equal Opportunity Act (Project 111) in a timely manner to update anti-discrimination protections for LGBTIQA+ people,
– Abolish the Gender Reassignment Board and ensure trans and gender diverse people can easily update their birth certificates for legal gender recognition, without the need for surgery or other invasive treatments,
– Implement comprehensive protections against conversion practices that seek to change or suppress gender identity sexual orientation or gender identity in line with the SOGICE Survivor Statement, including the civil response scheme and support for survivors,
– Stop deferrable medical interventions on people born with intersex variations without the informed consent of that person, in line with the Darlington Statement,
– Create equality of surrogacy access for LGBTIQA+ people, particularly men and non-binary people,
– Ensure whole of government inclusion in laws and policies to address social, economic, and health inequality, with clear accountability to the community.

And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray.

Click here to sign the petition

2022 Palliative Care Summit: Doing Death Differently.

Consumers, carers, clinicians and community working together. Summit registrations now open!

We are delighted to announce that registrations are NOW OPEN for Doing Death Differently, the 2022 Palliative Care Summit for Western Australia to be held on Thursday 24 November 2022 at Optus Stadium.

Doing Death Differently will bring together palliative care, aged care and community service professionals, researchers, volunteers, policy makers, students, carers and community members to discuss future priorities for quality palliative care in WA.

The critical role of carers, families, aged care providers and community, including the compassionate community approach, will be highlighted at the Summit. Attendees will be given the opportunity to actively participate in personal reflections and conversations about dying, death, grief and loss.

Registration

Attendance at Doing Death Differently can be in-person or online via Zoom.

Thanks to funding from WA Health’s End-of-life Care Program, Doing Death Differently is free to attend.

For this year’s summit, participants attending in person have a choice to attend the:

1. Breakfast session ONLY 7.00am to 8.45am (including a plated breakfast), or
2. Day sessions ONLY 9.00am to 3.15pm (including morning tea and lunch), or
3. Breakfast AND Day sessions combined 7.00am to 3.15pm (including all meals).

To assist with catering, please select only ONE of the above options when registering.

Please register HERE.

Speakers

We are pleased to announce the summit will be formally opened by the Hon Amber Jade Sanderson, Minister for Health; Mental Health, and will include significant contributions from:

• Dr David Russell-Weisz, Director General, WA Department of Health
• Associate Professor Hsien Seow, Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care and Health System Innovation at McMaster University and Director of the ICES-McMaster site
• Jeremy McKnight and Dr Claire Hepper from Shannon’s Bridge, a charity organisation that works at connecting patients and families with services to help with home-based care at end of life
• Professor, Charlie Corke, Intensive Care Specialist and regional clinical lead for the Advance Care Planning program for the South West Victorian Health region.

Format

The full program will be announced very soon and will be available on our website. In the meantime, we can confirm the format combines presentations from national and international speakers, Q&A opportunities, as well as interactive activities including a Death Café and an Advance Care Planning workshop. There will also be a range of short ‘snapshots’ where clinical and non-clinical emerging innovations in palliative care in WA will be shared. For more information on participating in the emerging innovations session please go to our website.

Host and sponsors

Doing Death Differently is organised by Palliative Care WA and funded by WA Health. In addition to sponsorship from Richard Lockwood, the summit is also kindly supported by a number of other sponsors who will be announced soon.

Doing Death Differently provides all palliative care stakeholders with a wonderful opportunity to learn, explore, network, be inspired and have your voices heard. Please share among your networks.

Pets of Older Persons (POOPS) are Looking for New Clients and Volunteers

Have you heard of Pets of Older Persons (POOPS)?

POOPS is a volunteer run, not for profit organisation that provides a fee-free pet care service for pet owners who are elderly or have a disability. POOPS have been carrying out their mission of ‘Keeping people and pets together’ since 2010.

Today they support clients in the Greater Perth Metro area and Busselton.
POOPS believe that no one should have to give their pets up due to age, disability or poor health and this valuable organisation relies on volunteers to work with clients to ensure people and their pets can stay together for as long as possible. Their generous volunteers form ongoing relationships with their clients.

 Eligibility POOPS clients are pet owners who are over the age of 65, palliative care patients of any age, or people with disabilities who need assistance with caring for their beloved pets and are unable to pay for support. They also offer discounts to clients for grooming, boarding facilities and vet costs. If you would like to volunteer, or if someone you know would benefit from the services POOPs provide, please click here https://www.poopswa.org.au/ to find out more or call 1300 110 092.

To learn more about volunteering for POOPS go to https://www.poopswa.org.au/volunteers/

Survey Opportunity: LGBTQA+ Australians Experiences with Religion and Faith

Researchers at ARCSHS (in collaboration with Macquarie University the Australian GBLTQI+ Multicultural Council, and the Brave Network) are conducting a nation-wide survey exploring LGBTQA+ Australians experiences with religion and faith. We are interested in hearing about a range of experiences, including participation in organized religion, personal relationships with spirituality and faith, engaging with faith-based organisations (such as religious schools), and experiences with conversion practices. We also want to hear form people who are not religious! To participate, you must be at least 18, identify as LGBTQA+ (or as being either a sexual minority or gender diverse), and live in Australia.

Please note: You do NOT need to be religious to participate. We are interested in positive and negative experiences with religion.
To participate in this survey and find out more about the project, visit the website: https://lgbtqareligiousexperiences.org.au/survey

WA Seniors Card: Benefits, Discounts and How to Apply

• What benefits are available?
• Guide to your Western Australia Seniors Card – rules and benefits
• Heading interstate? Take your WA Seniors Card
• Travelling overseas? Pack your Seniors Card

Everyone loves a bargain, but many older West Australians forget to grab one of the best deals on offer – their WA Seniors Card.

Even if you have not fully retired from the workforce, it’s worth checking to see if you are eligible for a Seniors Card, as in many states the rules allow you to undertake some paid work and still receive a card.

Getting a non-means tested Seniors Card gives you access to valuable concessions on transport costs and discounts from participating businesses for a wide range of goods and services.

To help you make the most of this valuable free scheme, check out SuperGuide’s detailed guide to accessing and using a WA Seniors Card.
Super Guide, Janine Mace, January 7, 2022

You can read the full article here.