Inclusion in the closet: older people and gender diversities

Abstract:

This study was oriented to know if the social construction of older people regarding identities that transgress heteronorma contributes to their inclusion. The research was in the region of Valparaíso, which since 2017 occupies the first place in Chile in homolesbobitransphobic discrimination. From the results, the central category “inclusion within the closet” emerges since, even when they distinguish that structural inequities that exclude generic sexual diversities and violate their social participation rights are similar to their own, older people censor their identity expressions in public spaces. In this way, they contribute incipiently to their inclusion, by keeping the closet door half-open and half-closed, between recognition and discrimination.

Keywords:
Gender diversity; Older people; Inclusion; Discrimination; Public spaces