Activities of May 17 Association Ageing Studies Program: A summary

Activities of May 17 Association Ageing Studies Program: A summary

10/01/2021 | 17 Mayıs

Just within a year, the May 17 raised the question of elderly LGBTI+ rights in various fields from social service to HIV, from justice to human rights

Activities of May 17 Association Ageing Studies Program: A summary - May 17 Association


The Elder LGBTI+ project of May 17 Association 40+ Lubunya Study Group with the cooperation of Kaos GL, which started in July 2020 and will continue until February 2021, has entered its last two months.

 

The " Elder LGBTI+" project, implemented by May 17 and Kaos GL associations together, has started on July 1, and will end at the end of February 2021.

 

The project aims to provide intersectional knowledge and a resource base for advocacy and lobbying for May 17 Association’s 40 LGBTI+ Study Group. In this context, the association, which organizes online activities from July to January, produced a source text on the rights and problems of Elderly LGBTI+, including the notes of these events, and drawn a road map. The report book, which includes Online Research on Rights and Issues of Elder LGBTI+ Persons and Collecting Good Examples Domestically and Globally will be shared in the coming days in English and Turkish.

 

 

Which online activities were held within the scope of the project?

 

The Elderly LGBTI+ Project, planned to be carried out between July 1, 2020-February 28, 2021 with the support of ILGA Europe, offered a capacity-building project and networking opportunity to reach the goal of raising public awareness about the rights and problems of aging and elderly LGBTI+'s in Turkey.

 

Online activities planned within the scope of the study to be carried out between 1 July 2020 and 28 February 2021 are: Online Training on HIV and Elder LGBTI+ Persons (28 September 2020); Online Training on Law and Elder LGBTI+ Persons (19 October 2020); Online Meeting on Solidarity and Living Cooperatives and Elder LGBTI+ Persons (16 November 2020); Elder LGBTI+ Persons and Social Policies Meeting organized with Kaos GL (26 November 2020); Online Meeting on Elder LGBTI + Persons in the Context of Human Rights, Civil Society-Aging Studies (30 November 2020); Online Meeting on Elder LGBTI+ Persons in the Context of Social Services (14 December 2020); to share the information of the project and the report book with the field: “Lubunya is Ageless”- Early New Year’s Meeting & Online Party (25 December 2020); Online Consultation and Strategy Meeting (January 2021); Distribution of Materials Produced and Media Coverage.

 

 

What was discussed in the online activities?

 

The first of the events, "Online Training on HIV and Elder LGBTI+ Persons", took place on September 28, 2020, from 19:00 to 21:00. In this event, which was attended by 75 people, the studies of the May 17 Association and 40+ LGBTI+ Study Group; the best examples from the world; Studies in Turkey; Problems and solutions for Elderly LGBTI+; The basic rights of people living with HIV and elderly LGBTI+ people under legal legislation in Turkey and the information of test centers in Turkey were conveyed. Defne Güzel, an activist working in the field of HIV and AIDS, explained the history and current situation of HIV in Turkey, the intersectionality of HIV and elderly LGBTI+s, experience problems, activism in the field and studies on the subject.

 

The second event was "Online Training on Law and Elder LGBTI+ Persons". It was moderated by Yıldız Tar, Media and Communication Program Coordinator of the Kaos GL Association. The speaker of the event, Lawyer Yasemin Öz presented on the current situation, legal regulations and practices on elderly rights in Turkey, international regulations on elderly rights, problems and recommendations for resolution.

 

The third event was the "Online Meeting on Solidarity and Living Cooperatives and Elder LGBTI+ Persons" on November 16, 2020. This event, moderated by Umut Güner, General Coordinator of Kaos GL Association and one of the founders of the May 17 Association, took place with the speeches of STGM's General Coordinator Tezcan Eralp Abay and Lawyer Yasemin Öz on the evaluation of establishing a cooperative for LGBTI+s; what does a cooperative mean, why it is important as a social community and the legal basis and possibilities of establishing a cooperative in the sense of Cooperatives Law.

 

Within the scope of the project, the fourth event "Elder LGBTI+ Persons and Social Policies Meeting"was organized in partnership with Kaos GL Association and May 17 Association on November 26, 2020. It took place with a presentation by activist Alp. Subjects such as academic studies, addressing old age in terms of sociology, age as a social identity, discrimination experiences, literature reviews, social policies and good examples from abroad on the axis of social work, opportunities to adapt these examples to Turkey were adressed in the meeting.

 

The fifth event took place on Monday, November 30, 2020, between 19.00 and 21.00 with the title of "Online Meeting on Elder LGBTI + Persons in the Context of Human Rights, Civil Society-Aging Studies". In this event, moderated by Civil Society Capacity Building Specialist Murat Çekiç, 65+ Elderly Rights AssociationGeneral Manager Özlem Yalcinkaya spoke; current status and studies were evaluated in the intersection of elder LGBTI+ people in the context of general human rights. At the event, Murat Çekiç made a presentation about international documents on human rights of elderly LGBTI+'s and legislation in Turkey, while Özlem Yalçınkaya, as General Manager of 65+ Elderly Rights Association, explained why the association's work and old age perception and old age studies are important.

 

As the sixth event, on December 14, 2020, the May 17 Association organized the "Meeting on Elder LGBTI+ Persons in the Context of Social Services". This online meeting, which was attended by 32 participants, was moderated by Prof. Dr. Özlem Cankurtaran from Hacettepe University Department of Social Services and attended by Dr. Gülçin Con Wright from Ted University Department of Sociology and Social Services Expert Yusuf Adem Uzun. At this event; general gerontology context and sociology of old age, intersections of age and sexual orientation/gender identity, deadlocks of aging LGBTI+s at social services, social work studies and possible case examples from the field were addressed. Gülçin Con Wright summed how LGBTI+ seniors are not being let in in the context of social policy in their presentation, social worker Yusuf Adem Uzun addressed the problems that may be encountered about the field of social work based on their own observations.

 

In order to share the information of the project and the report book with the field, the seventh event "“Lubunya is Ageless”- Early New Year’s Meeting & Online Party" was held on December 25, 2020. The final event, the Online Consultation and Strategy Meeting will be held at the end of this month.

 

In all these online activities organized within the scope of the project, the May 17 Association evaluated the fields of law, HIV and AIDS, human rights, cooperatization, social policies and social work and tried to shed light on the problems and possible initiatives that can be made in these areas. The "Rights and Issues of Elder LGBTI+ Persons and Examples from the World Study and Research Report", which includes the notes of speeches of all these events, will be published very soon. This material will also be shared with the media, policymakers, lawyers, NGOs, politicians, public officials, local governments and LGBTI+s. This work, with the support of ILGA Europe, will continue until 28 February 2021.


Translation: Yiğit E. Korkmaz

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