Deconstructing Normativity in Gerontology: Focus on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

As Canada’s population ages it is of increasing importance to recognize the heterogeneity of older adults, including their diverse needs as they age. To date, much of the gerontological research often relies on data solely from majority populations and fails to account for diverse experiences of aging, including those from LGBTQ+ communities. As a result, much of the teaching resources and evidence that informs gerontology pedagogy is centred around heterosexual and cisgender aging experiences, often ignoring or inadvertently perpetuating normative ideas around aging (Clarke, Ellis, Peel & Riggs, 2010; Witten, Eyler, Ettner & Eyler, 2007) and discounting life course that fall outside of the ‘norm’.

With funding through the SSHRC Partnership Development Grant program, this project is focused on integrating diverse experiences of aging into existing gerontology curricula. Through our partnership we aim to equip students and systems to recognize and disrupt embedded normative ideas about aging wherein LGBTQ+ individuals’ experiences and narratives are not heard, understood or valued.