haggis | BiCon Workshop - Bi Carers Meet (Reply)

I am also running a BiCon workshop about being a carer.

I was inspired to run the Carers workshop by the really good one that Ludy Roper ran last year. Being a carer can be hard work, physically and emotionally. We want to support the people we care for (which can be partners, friends, parents, children, neighbours) but there is rarely appropriate support for us. We may be disabled or experience poor health ourselves. We are directly and indirectly affected by disablism and discrimination against the people we care for but being a carer is different from being disabled. There are complex issues about speaking for/over disabled people or being viewed as 'virtuous' or 'heroic' (which implies the people we care for are a burden).

I am planning to run this workshop as a safe space for people to talk, listen and share experiences. If you have any thoughts or experiences on this subject that you would like to share, please contact me via FB, FB chat, Twitter, LJ or email. I will keep everything confidential unless given explicit permission to share it. If you are happy for me to share information, I can anonymise it if required. (Note this is a public post.)

I view being a carer as being an intersectional issue so there doesn't have to be a specific connection with sexual orientation or being bisexual to join in this conversation/workshop. However, we know there are high rates of disability and mental health problems in our communities, increasing numbers of older LGBT people who may not have family support as they age and professionals/support services may make assumptions about LGBT people and their relationships that affect both carers and the people they care for.