Being ‘excluded’, being ‘not included’ and ‘being included’ are all different experiences which have a range of impact on people and their well-being.

Being deliberately excluded – organisations which overtly say that it is not OK to be LGBT+, which discriminate against people because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Being not included – can occur when people have not even thought about LGBT+ people existing, or do not carry a thought through, so we can look on websites and in organisational literature and not see ourselves. The assumption is always of a heterosexual, binary world.

Being included – is what we are aiming for, when we can actually see ourselves and LGBT+ lives are ‘usualised’ which can have a hugely positive impact on our well-being.

“How would I know that I would feel safe and comfortable approaching your organisation for support, advice or a service?”

The 5 Commitments
  1. Commit to providing the best possible quality services for older and old LGBT+ people
  2. Commit to learning what life can be – and has been – like for different LGBT+ people.
  3. Commit to vocally and visually supporting groups working with and for older and old LGBT+ people
  4. Commit to creating meaningful opportunities for LGBT+ people and groups to ‘influence’ what you do
  5. Commit to assess and evidence change, including work carried out to engage LGBT+ people (within the group/organisation and outside it)
The Action Plan

To keep things workable in these busy times, EMBRACE action plans should be based on what is realistic in terms of size, capacity and available resources. Your plan can help you work through:

  • why you are undertaking this work
  • specific actions to consider
  • the changes that are likely to result from these actions
  • the evidence you could collect to illustrate the changes
Resources to help you