Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Event to share experiences of older lesbians
The ‘Older Lesbians Talking About our Generation’ event is free to attend and will take place at Leeds Beckett’s city campus Rose Bowl building on Saturday 5 March, from 10am to 5pm. The event, which is supported by the Centre for Applied Social Research (CeASR) at Leeds Beckett, will offer the opportunity for older lesbians to find out more about the research of Dr Jane Traies and Jill Wilkens and to discuss their own experiences and role models.
Professor Rachael Dixey, organiser of the event, commented: “This will be a big day to remember our history for any lesbians who lived through all the changes over the last 40 or so years; from having to keep silent to being able to get married!”
In their research, Jane and Jill address the invisibility of older lesbians, considering whether older lesbians are ‘hidden or hiding’, and also adding a different dimension from the conventional approach to studies of the older LGBT community which have been about addressing health and social care needs in older age.
Drawing on the researchers’ extensive work in gathering information from older lesbians, the session will debate questions of identity, differences and similarities in experiences of being a lesbian, and happiness and love in old age, whilst also asking if those in the audience can recognise themselves in the research findings.
Connecting the event to LGBT History Month, there will also be a presentation about the life of English tennis player and fencer, Toupie Lowther (1874-1944) who has been misportrayed in the writings of Una Troubridge. Val Brown, author of the Toupie Lowther – her life website, will speak about her. This will be followed by a discussion of the group’s heroines, mentors and role models, and of the representation of older lesbians in history.
