A failure of commitment to LGBT community

Published: 17 February, 2011

• I WRITE to voice my concern and dismay, and that of the 70 plus Camden residents who are members of Age Concern Camden’s Opening Doors Central London older LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Project, at Camden Council’s decision to withdraw the £3,750 funding to the older gay men’s group in Hampstead. 

The men’s group meets twice a month and is a lifeline of support for the men who attend, both in terms of dealing with social isolation and for putting LGBT people in contact with the right services, and advocating on their behalf though our teams of support volunteers. The small amount of money given from Camden ensures that older LGBT people in the borough are in contact with appropriate and sensitive support, support which all too often has been denied them in the past on the grounds of their sexual orientation. The work of Age Concern’s older gay men’s group builds trust between statutory services and its membership, making services much more aware of their hidden LGBT service users. 

Many older LGBT people have already faced a lifetime of prejudice and stigma, and their experience of historic and current homophobia, be it direct verbal and physical abuse on the streets or denial of LGBT-aware services within the council, means the only real help they can access is through the Opening Doors older gay men’s group. Camden’s decision to cut its existing small amount of funding comes across as a very loud statement of lack of commitment to the borough’s older LGBT men and women. 

Younger LGBT people now enjoy a huge amount of freedom and social choice, built on the hard work and sheer determination of their seniors. Age Concern’s older LGBT project often provides the only support these men and women have, a project that needs the support of Camden to continue. With the 2010 Equality Act now in force, is Camden really saying that older LGBT residents don’t matter?

NICK MAXWELL
LGBT Development 
Co-ordinator (men), NW1