"Older LGBTQ+ people are simply not as visible, not that they aren't," thinks the director of LIFE 90
Ideas of who is a "senior" change over time. How would you describe today's elderly person, also with regard to your professional practice?
Those ideas of who a senior is also change as one ages. For me, when I was eighteen, those who were in their forties were old. Today, I think of seniors as being more like octogenarians. Of course, the perception of the elderly is changing socially as well. According to the Social Services Act, a senior is anyone aged 65+, which is determined with respect to the usual start of drawing a retirement pension. However, the designation "senior" says nothing about a person's life, plans, fitness... Yet there is a stereotypical idea that the elderly are grey, sickly, hard to move, slow, unable to work with technology... Yet there are many older people who are young in spirit, who like to try new things. So there is no "prototype of a senior citizen" at all. I personally don't like to use the word "senior". It works as a shorthand that obscures more than it illuminates.
Just as the understanding of who is a senior is changing, so is the openness about the more intimate parts of life. And that includes a different orientation. There has been a lot of talk lately that being gay or lesbian is a trend. Some also claim that "there was no such thing before". Given that you work with seniors, including LGBTQ+ ones, could you shed some light on how things are going?
If I wanted to brag (laughs), ZIVOT 90 is the only seniors' organization that raises the issue of older LGBTQ+ people in the Czech Republic. Over time, it definitely doesn't change how many LGBTQ+ people there are in society, what changes is that people are less afraid to declare that they are LGBTQ+ today. So suddenly it can seem like there are a lot of them. But this is not a product of any Western liberalism or some fashion. It's just that older LGBTQ+ people simply aren't as visible, not that they aren't. At the same time, they come together, they have their life stories. But they lived their careers in a time when being gay or lesbian wasn't as accepted as it is today. There was the threat of persecution or manipulation by the state police because of it. Today's LGBTQ+ seniors often fear that this "community" - though I don't like to use the word - has become too visible, that it wants too much, and that society will punish it for it. They are also not always well versed in current events, which are fast-paced and opaque.
Indeed, today's activist scene may appear to some to be very combative to some extent - and already, paradoxically, even from within the community itself, voices are being raised that this combativeness may be counterproductive in the end. So do you see it in the same way?
I have been hearing these concerns for years. It is in the nature of activism to cross boundaries so that social space becomes more open - and then it easily closes itself off again because it has to process the newness. But the fact is that even within the LGBTQ+ community, not all of the values being promoted are unanimously agreed upon. After all, there is no consensus among LGBTQ+ people even on such a clear human rights concept as marriage for all.
Whatever the case with activism, the position of LGBTQ+ people in society, including Czech society, is changing. Today's LGBTQ+ seniors have had a unique life experience where they often could not live openly, had difficulty starting a family, and were often disowned by their relatives... Can you predict whether - or how much - the situation of LGBTQ+ seniors will be different in future generations?
I don't have a crystal ball, of course, but I am convinced that their situation will be different. I'm making this assumption based on my experience abroad. In the West, a certain "normalisation" of different sexual orientation happened earlier. Older LGBTQ+ people are much more active and visible. They go to cafes, but they also have intergenerational residential services, for example. They don't have to explain anything to anyone in them and they don't have to go through coming out again when they're more fragile. So I would expect that to change for us as well over time and that experience of freedom and being able to be openly yourself will come to us. On the other hand, we see what is happening in Eastern Europe, and I myself am worried about how it will turn out...
So do you also perceive that the situation is "turning around" not only in the former Eastern Bloc countries and people are often losing their hard-won rights?
I consider this a problem. I think that tolerance and respect are perhaps more fragile than we can admit. So when I see the pragmatism and populism of the ANO movement and the bigotry of the domestic ODS, I am afraid. Because these are all people who clearly do not see human rights as a value. But this is generally a problem in post-communist countries. Maybe there is also the inclination towards Russia... And given my church background, I also see an admiring look towards the Kremlin in the church, which still talks about the so-called traditional family, traditional values... which I find incredibly paradoxical in a Christian space where the communists oppressed Christians.
Going back to LGBTQ+ seniors again, you mentioned that there are special homes for the elderly abroad for those who are LGBTQ+. What are your views on such facilities? And would it make sense to build them here?
Residential services for LGBTQ+ older people would be desirable. But it's a question of major investment. You would need to convince an investor that it was a hit, which I think it would be. I can understand the argument that if we do something as specific as gay cafes, but maybe also LGBTQ+ homes, we are de facto excluding those people again. But our society is still not so open that it's not necessary. We know from surveys and from our own experience that those who are in homes for the elderly today are receptive to the issue. They don't want to come out again, to explain that they are LGBTQ+, they are afraid of being looked down upon or even just that others won't want to be alone with them. So then they close themselves off again and their quality of life cannot be the same as when they could afford to be themselves. So for me, housing for LGBTQ+ older people is definitely needed.
In LIFE 90, have you considered taking on the task of building some of these facilities yourself?
Of course we thought about it. We've even started working on the project. However, LIFE 90 is primarily promoting the idea that people should stay in their home environment for as long as possible. We therefore focus mainly on so-called outreach and outpatient services. Running homes for the elderly is not our priority. However, we will be happy to help a provider who wants to take this on.
You are "in charge" of outreach services, but social workers also provide services to seniors. To what extent is there awareness among them of the issue of seniors with a different sexual orientation?
It's certainly related to each person's values. Personally, I was part of a working group of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs that was in charge of developing a methodology for the fair provision of social services. It was not only about LGBTQ+ seniors and senior women, it also included other target groups. It emphasized so-called culturally sensitive social work. This is not exactly at home in our country. Maybe because we are used to forceful solutions. And maybe we don't listen enough.
So how did the methodology work out? Is anyone putting it into practice?
The methodology was printed, and a web portal was supposed to be created, but that has not been completed. There was also going to be a 'quality certificate' that only providers who met certain criteria could get, including fairness in dealing with LGBTQ+ people. Unfortunately, this has not been implemented. So it is a task that is still ahead of us.
At ŽIVOT 90 you also organise a number of events specifically for LGBTQ+ seniors, you are involved in Prague Pride, etc. What kind of reactions from your colleagues and clients, and I mean all of them, not only LGBTQ+ ones, do you encounter in this context?
It evolves over time. Today, everyone at LIFE 90 is behind this issue. In the five years that we've been continuously engaging with LGBTQ+ ageing and ageing, which is written all over LIFE 90, we're in a very different place today. We've returned to hosting regular rainbow intergenerational gatherings after two years, and we now have the Varied Coffee, which is a space for seniors whose grandchildren are queer. And they need advice on how to talk to them or where to find information. That's also why we've just launched a donation appeal to support Rainbow LIFE 90 and we'd be very happy if we could raise fifty thousand crowns to continue to develop our activities.
Given the openness towards LGBTQ+ issues - do you encounter any late coming out, for example?
We do, although not many. And they are very moving and powerful. In any case, it's always a huge act of bravery, because these people have actually been hiding something crucial from others their whole lives!
Whether straight, gay, lesbian... aging and old age still has a label in society of something undesirable that we try to "stop". Is there any way, in your opinion, to change that?
I think we need to unmask the stereotypes that come from fear, both in ourselves and in society. We are afraid of our own old age, we are afraid of losing our autonomy, we struggle with the meaning of existence. We must break down stereotypes and not accept them. All we have to do is look around us - and focus on the people who don't fit all those stereotypes. It is important to show that many things depend on us, including our old age. Even loneliness can be reinforced by different life choices.
ThLic. Jaroslav Lorman , M.D. , Th.D., is a philologist and theologian who served as a Roman Catholic deacon and university teacher before coming out himself. After he was banned from the "church" because of his orientation, he began working for the organization LIFE 90. The organization also focuses on senior LGBTQ+ issues.
You can support the activities of ZIVOT 90 for LGBTQ+ seniors in the Rainbow ZIVOT 90 collection on the portal Darujme.cz.
