This is a presentation done to present to Doctors and Nurses. It identifies how homophobia can and does have a direct effect on the phyical and mental health of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People both young ang aged.

1. GLBTI Community Young, Old and everyone in between

2. Same Sex Attracted YOUTH Social Inclusion Emotional Support

3. Writing Themselves In AGAIN – 6 years on The 2nd national report on the sexual health and well being of same sex attracted young people in Australia Lynne Hillier, Alina Turner, Anne Mitchell Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society Funded by the Commonwealth Dept of Health and Aging

4. What was asked Demographics Sexual feelings Sexual behaviors Discrimination and abuse Impacts of abuse Drug use Disclosure and support Information sources Stories

5. Profile of the Young People 1749 SSAY, 14 – 21 years (av 18 years) (750 1998) 63% male (2 f-m transgender) 37% female (7 m-f transgender) From all states and territories 80% from major Australian cities, 20% rural 21% from a CALD background 2% from an ATSI background 72% at school/TAFE/university 95% had disclosed to someone (82% - 1998)

6. First knew 1/3 knew before puberty 1/3 knew at puberty 1/3 knew after puberty Contexts of first realising included dreams, sexual exploration, falling in love, sexual activity and through others disclosing to them.

7. Sex Education 80% of these young people found sex education in schools entirely useless However, when the 14 – 17 year olds are considered more schools providing inclusive sex education, especially in the last 4 years (% low) 45% had received information about homophobia and discrimination from school

8. SSAY health risk factors 10% of young women 15-18 had been pregnant (8% in high school study) 14% reported being diagnosed with an STI ( 4% in national high school study) 6% had been diagnosed with some form of hepatitis ( 2% in national high school study)

9. How do people treat you?

10. Have you been treated unfairly on the basis of your sexuality? 38% Yes 2006 (29% in 1998) My girlfriend and I were both sacked from work when our boss found out we were gay (Lizette 21 years) It happens every day, it’s the way people look at you when they find out; it’s the way people ignore you, shun you; make you feel little, different and inferior. It’s the way work administers the roster and the way the school fails to curb bullying. (Joey 18 years) I wasn’t allowed to play rugby because all of the guys on the rugby team said they wouldn’t play if I played so if I didn’t budge … then there wouldn’t have been a school rugby team (Kory 16 years).

11. Has anyone ever been verbally abusive towards you because of your sexuality? 44% yes (46% 1998) You should get AIDS, you people make me sick etc. (Reid 21 years) Usual names such as Dyke, Butch bitch etc. and sometimes comments/ogling from guys in terms of needing a good root, need to be raped straight, [need] some dick etc. (Rena 21 years).

12. Has anyone ever been physically abusive towards you because of your sexuality? 16% yes (13% in 1998) My father and stepmother … believed that I wouldn’t be gay if they knocked it out of me, quite literally used to slam my head against the wall, gave me a headache, but I’m still gay. (Miriam, 19 years) My boyfriend and I were punched at [a local] beach. A group of about 7 guys in their early 20s were around and two of them laid into me and my boy…I was hospitalised and lucky not to have a broken jaw. My boy has had back pains ever since. (Vance, 17 years)

13. Where the abuse took place

14. 74% of those abused experienced abuse at school Just people calling me names and saying I was gross and a freak and calling me gay or dyke. And people have drawn or wrote [sic] things on pieces of paper and left them in my locker. And there’s things written on toilet walls and rumors about me (Paula 14 years) School - Daily bashing, taste testing of the urinals or making sure people’s shit was the right color. (Kevin 17 years) I was cornered in the school toilets and three guys took turns punching the shit out of me. (Tristan18 years) In PE class the guys would try to give me the ball so they could tackle me. (Troy 20years)

15. Impact of homophobic abuse

16. Impacts of homophobia – self-harm when so many people tell you how disgusting you are, you start to feel disgusting and at many times in my life, I know I have wanted to turn my back on the person looking back at me in the mirror. when it got particularly bad I used to scratch patterns in my face until it bled out of disgust for myself. (Aiden 19 years) I tried to kill myself because I was so badly teased at school for being a lesbian.. it never ended and I got severe depression and I saw no other way to be happy, I was in hospital for 2 months trying to control my depression and because doctors thought I would hurt myself again if they let me out and it also forced me to drop out of school. (Claudia 16 years)

17. PRIVATE LIVES A report on the health and wellbeing of GLBTI Australians Australian research Centre in Sex, Health & Society Latrobe University, Melbourne & GLHV Gay and lesbian Health Victoria March 2006 Marian Pitts Anthony Smith Anne Mitchell Sunil Patel

18. The Private Lives Study The private Lives study, carried out in early 2005, is one of the largest surveys of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTI) people ever conducted. Its aim was to document aspects of health and wellbeing of a large sample of GLBTI people in Australia, to explore the impact of factors such as homophobia, discrimination, family and community connection on health and wellbeing.

19. Participation WHO was involved? In all, 5476 people between 16 and 92 years of age completed the online survey. This sample provides us with a detailed picture of the lives of GLBTI in Australia in all their diversity and complexity.

20. More than 70% reported no current religion 8% were currently Catholic 6% currently Protestant and 3% Buddhists This was significantly different from the religions in which participants were brought up. The majority of those current religion was Catholic described their religious community as anti- gay, as did those whose religion was Islam. The most Gay friendly religious communities were reported to be of the Wicca and Buddhist religions.

21. General Health On the SF36 (which is a five-item scale to assess general health function) men were the only group to score above the average. As a group, women were slightly below average with transgender males and transgender females also scoring slightly below the mean. Intersex males and intersex females scored substantially lower. The self reported health status of Private Lives participants was somewhat worse than the ABS records for all Men and Women in younger age groups. These differences however diminished with age, so that by 45 years the differences between Private Lives participants and the ABS respondents are minimal or non-existent.

22. Mental Health Nearly three quarters of the sample reported some experience of depression in the past. The prevalence of depressive disorders was high, with 49% of Men and 44% of Women scoring on at least one of the two criteria for major depressive episode. It is of particular concern that 16% of all respondents indicated suicidal ideation (thoughts) in the two weeks prior to completing the survey. It was encouraging to see there was a significant negative correlation with age – the older the respondent, the less likely they were to be depressed. Half of all participants had seen a counsellor or psychiatrist in the past 5 years for a range of issues, relationships, families, anxiety and depression. beyond blue is a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance misuse disorders in Australia. www.beyondblue.org.au

23. Sexual Health check ups More than twice the number of males compared to females had had a sexual health check up in the past year. Most men who had STI check ups also had HIV tests indicating that STI testing occurs in the context of HIV testing. 78% reported having had an HIV test at the some time. 65% had also tested in the previous years and 24.8% having tested in the previous five years. Participants were asked if they had heard of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV. Just under half indicated that they had heard of PEP (48.3) with an additional 2% being unsure and only 8% had attempted to access it.

24. Impacts of Discrimination & Violence Overall, 67% of participants indicated that fear of prejudice or discrimination caused them, at least sometimes, to modify their daily activities in particular environments. This was more common for younger participants and in rural areas. The vast majority (90%) had at some time avoided expressions of affection in public and disclosure of their gender identity or sexuality. Significant numbers of participants (14%), particularly gay men (10%), always avoided disclosing their sexual identity for fear of discrimination. Personal insults or verbal abuse were more common in major cities than in rural, regional or remote areas. However the reverse was true of the experience of threats of violence or physical attack.

25. Pet Ownership and it’s importance…

26. PETS Pets play an important role in the lives of many GLBTI people and they were nominated by many as among the three best things in their life. It is therefore not surprising that many households were augmented by a pet. Just over half 54% reported that they had a pet or pets. This is slightly lower rate than Australian households in general 64%. Dogs were the most common, closely followed by cats. Smaller numbers reported having fish, birds, rodents or some other animal. Pet Ownership YES 2,986 54.9% NO 2,458 45.2% Types of pets Dog 57.9% Cat 51.1% Fish 15.9% Bird 11.0% Rodent 5.1% Farm Animal 3.8% Reptile 0.8%

27. Connectedness to Community In nominating the three best things in their lives a majority of participants rated friends overall as the best thing in there lives right now. Community involvement was rated as far less significant and may well have been seen as more formal community involvement rather than the participation in a personal community of friends. The participants in this survey have varied social worlds that include a combination of gay and straight friends. More than half 58.1% indicated that the majority of their friends were not GLBTI. Nevertheless, its is clear that GLBTI friendships provide the basis for active social lives, with nearly 4 in 5 participants 78.6% having contact with gay and lesbian friends and acquaintances at least weekly.

28. MY PEOPLE Interim Findings from a Study Exploring the Experiences of GLBTI Seniors in Aged Care Services Conducted by the Matrix Guild Victoria Inc and Vintage Men Inc Funded by the Reichstein Foundation Dr. Catherine Barrett, Project Researcher Jane Kent Project Coordinator January 2008

29. Contact and Enquiries If you would like to be involved in this program or feel you can assist in any way please contact a member of the program team: • Jane Kent Community Development Worker, The Matrix Guild of Victoria, jkent@bigpond.com/ 0438411441/PO Box 99 Fairfield Vic 3078 http://www.matrixguildvic.org.au/index.html • Paul Busey President Vintage Men: 0419 341 547 • Catherine Barrett, Project Researcher: cchange@netspace.net.au/ cbarrett@latrobe.edu.au/ 0417 307 325/PO Box 1377 St Kilda South 3182

30. Background The past two decades in Australia has seen widespread socio-political reforms challenging the general perspective of heterosexual experience as the only view of the world. Despite these reforms there remains an assumption of heterosexuality in aged care.

31. Such an assumption fails to create a climate in which non-heterosexuals are prepared to disclose sexual or gender identity, life history or care needs. This failure to disclose results is a cycle in which health professionals are unaware of their GLBTI clients and their particular needs (Harrison, 2004*).

32. To achieve appropriate change in the provision of services to older people, in line with the general changes in society, the Matrix Guild has outlined a four-stage program. The aim of the Program is to reduce health disparities in society by redressing the unmet health needs of GLBTI seniors.

33. Stage 1 (2007): Exploring the Experiences of GLBTI Seniors in Aged Care:

34. Stage 2 (2008): Determining Strategies to Enhance Aged Care Services:

35. Stage 3 & 4 (2009 - ): Implementing Change:

37. Relationship recognition

38. Discrimination and Equal Opportunity

39. Drug use

40. Aged Care

41. Sexual Health

42. Young people

44. Presentation by; Mark A Halton Peer Project Officer Northern Territory AIDS & Hepatitis Council