February is LGBTIQ* History Month
This British tradition is intended to commemorate the chequered history of people who do not fit into the concept of heterosexual lifestyles. Part of this collective history is also social discrimination and pathologisation, which have shaped the lives of those affected.
As the Ninth Report on Ageing explains in its subchapter ‘4.3 Living openly and self-determinedly - LGBTIQ* in old age’, it is important to be aware of the historical contexts in which older LGBTIQ* people have lived today in order to ensure their participation and appropriate support in the case of a need for care. Furthermore, the Ageing Report Commission recommends extending legal rights and responsibilities to non-kinship relationships and thus recognising the realities of many older LGBTIQ* people's lives (3.2.3 Community of responsibility).