Plans for a new LGBTQ+ care housing scheme in Manchester have officially been approved. The news was announced by the City Council on Thursday, September 26, with the project set to become the UK’s first purpose-built and co-produced majority LGBTQ+ Extra Care social rent housing scheme. Work to convert the site of the now demolished private Spire Hospital building into one of Europe’s few LGBTQ+ retirement communities will start later this year.

The complex will be a four or five-storey brick building and will contain 80 one and two-bedroom social rented apartments. It will also feature shared facilities for its inhabitants aged 55 and older, and landscaped gardens, lounges and treatment rooms. 40 additional shared ownership homes, consisting of one and two-bedroom flats, will be developed there as well, in order to tackle the general problem of affordability.

Moving into a retirement community is a challenging decision for most older people but comes with even more challenges for queer elders. Many worry they must hide their identity again for fear of discrimination by other residents or even their caregivers and therefore involuntarily go back in the closet.

A recent study by Stonewall surveyed lesbian, gay and bisexual people over the age of 55 across Britain and shows that three in five have doubts that social care and support services would be able to understand and meet their needs. 47% said they would feel uncomfortable opening up about their sexual orientation to care home staff.

Following this study’s worrying results, new supporting guidance for UK care homes was also recently released, which showcases how to create inclusive residential care for LGBTQ+ elders in retirement facilities. The guide is part of a research project, Creating Inclusive Residential Care for LGBTQ+ Elders (CIRCLE), which explores ways of supporting residential care providers for older people to improve their LGBTQ+ inclusive care.

The new guide was developed from 2022 to 2024 by researchers from the University of Kent, University of Surrey and University of Hertfordshire, in collaboration with older LGBTQ+ people and care providers. It includes practical tips and is available to download for free.

As reported by Attitude, Dr Jolie Keemink from the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent and leader of the CIRCLE research project, said: “Research shows that the older LGBTQ+ population is expected to rely more heavily on social care than their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts, because they are less likely to have children and more likely to experience a lack of social support.”

That is why the benefits of queer-friendly retirement homes as safe spaces for older members of the LGBTQ+ community cannot be stressed enough. While there are no such retirement communities in Ireland yet, there are already a few projects like this in Europe and beyond.

A good example to look at is the queer retirement facility Queer Quartier Herzog*in in Munich, Germany. Since its completion in 2023, it has offered LGBTQ+ seniors a tolerant and understanding home, which often cannot be guaranteed in traditional retirement facilities.

“Many struggle to speak about their past or hide their partners by referring to them as ‘just a friend’”, Anna Geiger explains. The 56-year-old social worker is an advisor for queer elders at rosaAlter, an advisory centre by Munich’s AIDS support organisation (Münchner Aids-Hilfe e.V.) for LGBTQ+ people as they advance in age. Together with nursing home operator Münchenstift, Münchner Aids-Hilfe e.V. has developed the Queer Quartier Herzog*in project, which is laid out for seniors who are still independent but can avail of support if needed.

In case residents become in need of nursing care, specially trained, external staff comes in, who are aware of LGBTQ+ peoples’ needs and sensitive to their often-difficult pasts. Many queer seniors have ‘chosen families’ because their former families turned their backs on them. “This special characteristic needs to be known by nursing staff, so they understand the importance of those friends to the residents.”

During their training by Münchenstift, the staff are told stories of queer seniors, to raise their awareness for the struggles many residents had to face throughout their lives. “These people sometimes experienced severe discrimination. Lesbian mothers who came out after a straight relationship lost custody, justified by claiming they were jeopardizing their children’s welfare.”

Similar to Ireland, queer men in Germany were persecuted under the law up until the 1990s by the discriminatory paragraph 175, which young staff is not always aware of anymore. “Often the young say, they thought queer people have equal rights now and that they did not know about the discrimination that still affects the elders today.” The nursing staff are also trained in considerations they might have to make differently in care for trans and intersex seniors, as well as HIV Positive elders.

 

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While in big cities like Munich, some traditional retirement communities are starting to develop LGBTQ+-sensitive support in their facilities, rural set-ups show a different scenario. HIV Positive elders have reported experiencing negative reactions upon their requests for a place in such homes. “Suddenly, the residence had no place available anymore”, Geiger says, retelling the experiences she gets reported by queer elders reaching out to her.

There also seems to be a lack of current knowledge about HIV and that with medical treatment, there is basically no risk of infection in everyday life. Still, the fear and prejudice that many people harbour seems to prevail.

Furthermore, for the ageing trans community, a retirement home like this is crucial. “Especially elder trans women want to know their neighbour does not give them weird looks because they might look a bit different”, Anna Geiger reports.

Despite all the obvious benefits, the community seems to be divided on the topic of LGBTQ+ retirement homes.

“Some of the LGBTQ+ seniors were ostracised their whole life. Even still, older queer people are often not that high-regarded in our society. Some seniors just want to arrive somewhere, where they are accepted and want to be among people who understand them. Others deliberately do not want this separation between the queer community and straight seniors.”

The Queer Quartier Herzogin*in building encompasses 20 two-room flats and eight one-room flats, with kitchens and barrier-free bathrooms. All apartments have a home emergency call. Apart from their individual loggias residents can also enjoy time together on a shared terrace. Public transport and shopping opportunities are additionally close by.

Similar to the points addressed in the plans for Manchester’s LGBTQ+ care housing scheme, the project in Munich aims to keep the rent affordable with one-room flats starting around €900, and two-room apartments around €1,200. While the project is outstanding in Germany, it is, as mentioned, not the only one of its kind.

Similar projects have been launched as well in Sweden (Regnbagen, meaning Rainbow House in Stockholm), where Europe’s first LGBTQ+ retirement community was founded in 2009, in the UK (Tonic Housing in London), Spain (Villaverde District in Madrid), or in the Netherlands (Roze Hallen in Amsterdam). The USA offers queer-sensitive retirement homes in Oregon (Rainbow Vista) and Southern California (Living Out).

Ireland might not have such projects yet, but offers queer-friendly spaces for LGBTQ+ seniors to connect. LGBT Ireland has a Telefriending Service for older members of the community to chat with a volunteer on a weekly basis, and there are a number of social groups across the country that can help with finding connections.