New housing development for LGBTQ people 55+

[Justme56]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12926315/LGBTQ-extra-care-housing-development-Manchester-UKs-55s-residents.html

Handy location for the Carlton Club!

Any particular reason you posted this in FWR?

More social and affordable housing being built is a good thing, isn’t it?

i am just wondering what the specific and extra care needs could possibly mean that sets them aside from the rest of the human race.

The mind boggles.

Maybe other retirement housing options don't offer the sorts of activities and co-living arrangements preferred by gay/lesbian couples? I do have some knowledge of the sector and this hasn't been mentioned as an issue in the industry but there is always room for variation.

Will GC lesbians be welcome, I wonder - or will that upset the Ts? Who takes priority?

Is it actually legal to specify a certain group of people like that? Will there be another development for the rest of the population? As far as I know there are no EA2010 exemptions/exceptions for LGBTQ+ and there is no legitimate reason for separate accommodation like this.

And can anyone self-identify as LGBTQ+? Would a heterosexual couple be accepted if the man likes wearing his wife's underwear occasionally (which would make him T under the Stonewall definition)?

I thought this was an odd concept too OP. Inevitably it brings to mind segregation which is never a good look.

If the LGBTQWTF hadn’t all been collapsed into one giant hole it might be easier to identify specific needs (eg there are some HIV positive gay men in their senior years who might benefit from on site viral load testing and there are some trans people who forget they transitioned and need support coming to terms with missing body parts, although that’s likely to affect people in higher dependency care than just supported housing).

I watched a lovely Netflix documentary about a senior lesbian couple who had been living together as ‘friends’ their whole adult lives and part of the process of moving into supported housing for them involved ‘coming out’ to family and finding a place where they would be free to be an open couple (iirc they even married after moving). It’s an absolute tear jerker of a film.

Manchester probably does have a higher than average proportion of LGB & T people so it likely makes sense in planning & social care terms.

Oooft - tricky one. I mean, it could go either way really…

Can you imagine if someone proposed a 'super straight' housing scheme?

Would be very nice to have a community and all the acceptance of being among other gay people, this sounds lovely. Being somewhere where you are the 'norm', where all the facilities fully understood and were so focused plus the social life - lovely. However yes, my big concern would be would I be expected to swear that I would be willing to validate a man with my body if he speaks the words of power, and subjected to male lesbian harassment. TQ tolerance of homosexuality cannot be taken for granted these days.

Is this thread just bigotry for the sake of it? There's extensive evidence of discrimination and difficulty in elder lgbt housing, including gross homophobia and prejudice.

I like the idea of community housing- I’d like female only housing, and all the various groupings anyone could wish for!

I have no issue with this, as long as the residents were welcoming and accepting.

We’re so damn short of housing, every little helps!

I think it is a great idea. Women would never be allowed to do it, without men trying to access it of course. But yes LGBTQIA+++ whatever, crack on and go for it.

I don’t resent extra housing but please. I would love to see applicant criteria, will it say anybody who is not heterosexual? That would be a breach of the EA unless there was a demonstrable reason to justify this.

LGBTQ+ is a pretty broad, erm, demographic, what would the selection criteria look like. Would it be self ID of the ever increasing list of LGBTQIA+++

I don’t suppose minor interested people would fancy it, and other similar identifiers.

What if you are only occasionally trans would you have to stay away for a while

It sounds like a legal mine field and stupid to me.

Be interesting to see how this one pans out

I posted this because it was a new idea. It wasn't a criticism just an interesting new concept (in this country at least). One of my relatives met a new partner when she moved into a retirement complex which was lovely. I can imagine for older gay people it isn't that easy.

I am really inclined to think that it is illegal to deny housing on the basis of sexual orientation. Obviously it's a private community building something they can do what they like but that doesn't seem like the case here.

I think this is an area where people get confused, but it has serious consequences. In a number of her recent speeches, Kemi has emphasized that equality legislation is not structured to protect people who are Oppressed, as such. It protects any discrimination on the basis of certain characteristics. You can no more discriminate against someone because they are straight than because they are not.

Yes, there are certain cases where specialized needs can justify reserved spaces, but I can't see this being one of them - if you can justify lgbtq+ only housing you could justify straight only housing.

This isn't a principle we should be eager to let go.

May sound a silly question, but who screens the potential residents? Do you have to have a re-test after five or ten years to check you still qualify?

I suppose it comes down to ‘proportionate means to a legitimate aim’?

And if there is a disproportionate amount of homelessness amongst senior LGB & T people?

I accept the slippery slope aspect but if the justification is provable & planning is robust then that would minimise that risk? The inclusion of most of alphabet makes it a bit cloudy though)

(Knowing MCR council there is a corporate partner who is contributing a chunk of funding for their own EDI index tho, so it definitely needs some scrutiny.

I expect it would be self-selection - if you want to buy one you can, knowing that all / most of your new neighbours will in 'in the club' so to speak.

Could get tricky when it comes to inheritance - would a straight adult who inherits a gay parents' house be allowed to move in? How could anyone stop them?

@Yetmorebeanstocount It is a housing association are regulated by, RSH. As far as i am aware there are strict rules around application and criteria’s for any social housing provision and any support services attached to it.

Thats what i cannot get my head around. As what would their criterion look like for start off….

This may be a first, but there's been a few older housing communities built for different ethic groups in the last few years. They're usually pitched at one specific market, but anyone can live there if they want. The reason for them being targeted at different groups is mainly just because they're intended as social communities and some people like mixing in a group with others like themselves - rather than LGBT having any specific physical needs from their housing. Extra care housing isn't usually subsidised so they'd be little reason to want to live there unless you are LGBT and want to live with others who are too. Maybe some of them are hoping for a late life new partner?

People seem to assume that LGBTQ means gay people.

It does not