Respect Your Elders

Respect Your Elders

The Respect Your Elders campaign and education program is part of our drive to secure LGBTQ inclusive environments for older people. The current generation of older LGBTQ people have experienced a lifetime of discrimination due to their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and they face very specific challenges as they age:

• They are less likely to seek health care when they need it
• They often do not disclose their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression to their care providers for fear of discrimination
• They are at a higher risk for negative health outcomes later in life, including depression, suicide, substance abuse, smoking
• They report more feelings of isolation from their communities

There are 2 versions of each poster in the Respect Your Elders series – one with the message, “Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia have no place at home“, and the other with the message, “Older queer and trans rights matter“.

View the complete poster series

Download complete set of posters JPG PDF

The campaign and education program supports organizations and individuals to understand the needs of LGBTQ adults. We offer workshops and resources that support safe, welcoming and inclusive care environments for LGBTQ older people.

Workshops will help participants to:

• Identify and discuss reasons an older LGBTQ person may be distrustful of the health or social care systems and/or reluctant to seek the care they need
• Demonstrate and share an empathetic understanding of the barriers faced by older LGBTQ people
• Make appropriate use of pronouns
• Propose ways to foster a safe and LGBTQ-inclusive care environment for older people, their friends and chosen families