Campaigning in 2018

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Back In The Closet – In Health and Care provision

National research shows that when Gay and Trans people go into care or receive care at home, they are going back in the closet. This is because they fear discrimination and abuse. OLGA wants to see health and social care providers welcoming LGB&T people, with staff encouraging us to be ourselves. OLGA has been working with Care Quality Commission to improve inclusivity of LGB&T clients. CQC tell us that they are now asking service providers about safety and personalised care issues.

CQC inspectors are receiving up to date training to enable them to have the confidence to quiz health and social care providers. How successful this latest initiative is will be shared with OLGA and you in summer 2018.

Homophobic and Transphobic Hate Crime

OLGA attends regular meetings with the North Yorkshire police. Shockingly, they have refused to provide us with hate crime data for several years! We believe they are bound by the equality law, and to prove this they should share the data about homophobic and transphobic hate incidents and crimes. If they continue to refuse to share this, we may request it under the freedom of information act.

Teaching Relationships and Sex Education in North Yorkshire Schools 

At long last, the Government announced in March 2017 that Relationships and Sex Education will become statutory in September 2019. This education will be in primary and secondary schools. North Yorkshire will be using a highly experienced trainer from the Sex Education Forum and Stonewall.

What will parent’s reactions be? What will children’s reactions be? How many parents will use their right to withdraw their child from sex education within the subject called relationships and sex education. They cannot withdraw them from sex education in the National Curriculum as part of Science. Pleasingly there can be no withdrawal from Relationship Education in Primary School. This will deal with different relationships such as Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans and work on “Different Families”. Primary Schools must introduce the topic of “Different Families – Same Love”.

It is also important when teaching Relationship and Sex Education at all age groups not to just refer to the two genders of boys and girls but to take the time to explore the spectrum of gender identity for example include trans and gender neutral identities as well as challenging gender stereotypes.

 

Equality Means Mind Your Language

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New OLGA Training DVD

OLGA is proud to announce that the unique training DVD “Equality Means Mind Your 1- OLGA Front COVER Language” is now available. This DVD can be used by any staff facilitator in any organisation, but especially relevant for health and social care staff. The DVD cost can be negotiated. Donations will help OLGA continue to do its work.

Care Quality Commission will inspect health and social care service provision for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people 2017 to 2019

Why should YOU watch this DVD?

  • To understand the LAW as it relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.
  • To understand the meaning of and implications of language used every day in a care setting and other service provision.
  • To help you provide a safe and inclusive environment for ALL your clients and/or residents.
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This video is also available on YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzNMwTI5HNA

This DVD raises awareness of the need of service providers to use all-inclusive, appropriate language in order to ensure equality of provision for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.

Issues covered in the DVD:

The gay and trans context – Why lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people are afraid of coming out.
History of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.
The Equality Law and Human Rights Law – How your organisation can show legal compliance.
What organisations can do to give lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people the confidence 2- OLGA Back COVER (1)to come out in order to get their needs met.
All-inclusive, appropriate language, and how to respond if someone comes out to you.
Case studies
End-of-life care / issues e.g. “next-of-kin” language problems.

This DVD lasts two and a quarter hours including activities time.

This DVD offers many activities for staff, to do as individuals, in pairs and as part of a group.

 

Stonewall Names OLGA Community Group Of The Year

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SHOT BY ROB

Julian Clary – Award Ceremony Host, Jackie Burnett – OLGA Secretary, Peter O’Neill – CEO of State Street, Mary Birch – OLGA Project Coordinator and Ruth Hunt CEO of Stonewall. Photo by SHOT BY ROB

The Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Association was named Community Group of the Year by Stonewall supporters for their work to support older members of the LGBT community. The group was presented with a cheque for £5,000 – kindly provided by State Street – to continue their work.

Mary Birch’s Acceptance Speech

First, I would like to thank Stonewall & State Street for sponsoring this award. Next thanks go to all of OLGA’s volunteers who support us in our campaign work. We thank Comic Relief for giving us a grant a few years ago. This grant enabled us to make an impact nationally as well as regionally.

We campaign about the issues surrounding being lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans and receiving health and social care. Nationally, care service providers still say “We haven’t got any of them here.” Of course, they will have gay & trans clients but need to develop ways of finding out who we are.

We echo Age UK Camden’s Opening Doors Project which says “It is up to the organisations to come out as gay (and trans) friendly, instead of the gay (and trans) client having to come out in order to get their needs met.”

When we need health & social care, we feel vulnerable and are frightened of coming out for fear of abuse or discrimination from health and care workers. We go back in the closet.

We salute the undercover filming in hospitals and care homes which has exposed cruelty and abuse there. We appeal to more gay & trans groups and organisations to campaign to make it safer for us to come out to health and social care providers.

I’ll end on a personal note. When I am admitted to hospital or into a care home, I will not want to hide a part of my identity. I want to feel confident about naming a contact person of my choice. I want to put photos by my bed and in my room. Photos of my same gender partner and photos of my family of choice. I will hope that staff are trained well enough to be able to chat to me about my photos in the same way they would with anyone else.