"I am What I am. My Own Special Creation" : A qualitative interview study on queer ageing and eldercare.

Sammanfattning: The objective of this Master’s thesis is to expand scholarship on ageing and eldercare through the lens of queer gerontology; to develop said scholarship on the queering of eldercare through the experiences of LGBTQ+ seniors and LGBTQ+ certified eldercare practitioners. Through four interviews with LGBTQ+ seniors and abovementioned practitioners, the core findings of the thesis put to question the collective subjectivity that is LGBTQ+ seniors, as neither LGBTQ+ informant thought of sexuality as an identity, but rather a practice. It acknowledges the presence of nonnormative sexual practices in old age, and how the seniors themselves and eldercare staff silences these deviant aspects. Moreover, attempts to create inclusive eldercare falls short as the normalization of LGBTQ+ identities silences queer and deviating identities and aspects of ourselves. There’s an incongruence in the ways the practitioners and LGBTQ+ seniors relate to sexuality. This furthers the silencing of todays’ LGBTQ+ seniors, as the practitioners appear to be preparing for younger cohorts which to a larger degree regard sexuality as an identity. Ultimately, a queering of eldercare requires an embracement of the deviant and undesired – including our perceptions of non-monogamous, kinky sexual practices in a nursing home.