This community-academic panel invites an honest and intergenerational conversation about growing older within 2SLGBTQ+ communities, centring the voices and lived experiences of older adults. We will begin by introducing findings from our study on 2SLGBTQ+ aging in Nova Scotia, which includes interviews with more than 30 2SLGBTQ+ older adults from across the province, highlighting key historical events that have shaped the participants aging experiences, alongside their hopes for the future. Panel members will expand upon the findings, reflecting on how historic and contemporary events shape well-being in later life. We will then turn to strategies to strengthen health, social, and community systems for 2SLGBTQ+ older adults. The panel will conclude with an interactive, intergenerational art activity inviting audience members to reflect on the theme, “Honouring 2SLGBTQ+ Histories to Imagine 2SLGBTQ+ Futures.”

The conversation on growing older in 2SLGBTQ+ communities is particularly salient in the context of Nova Scotia’s rapidly aging population and systemic erasure of 2SLGBTQ+ history. As we live longer, it becomes increasingly important to learn how to promote equity in aging experiences and lifelong joy and resilience within the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Knowledge sharing and the re-telling of lived experience is a vital step in this process toward well-being later in life. Our current cohort of 2SLGBTQ+ older adults are the first to ‘age out’, or be able to age as their authentic selves, yet there is still a lack of opportunity for intergenerational connection within our communities. Our goal with this panel is create a dialogue about 2SLGBTQ+ aging and to encourage 2SLGBTQ+ people in Nova Scotia to think about our how our history impacts our aging futures. 

Presented by Dalhousie University; "Queering Age-Friendly Nova Scotia" Research Team