LSE - Small Logo
LSE - Small Logo

Equality and Diversity

January 30th, 2012

The week that was…

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Equality and Diversity

January 30th, 2012

The week that was…

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Only a couple of days to go for LGBT History Month! Read about the silence over gay footballers, how gay actors may be sidelined after coming out, what’s happening to the care of the elderly and why carers of those with cancer are largely unsupported.

As we look forward to marking February as LGBT History Month, footballer Justin Fashanu’s niece laments the fact that her uncle remains the only openly gay professional footballer in Britain. Amal Fashanu sees chinks of light in determined campaigns against homophobia and racism in sport, such as Kick it Out, Show Racism the Red Card, Gay Football Supporters’ Network etc. And yet she thinks “progress has moved at a snail’s pace since Justin’s era”.

And that would seem very true if the survey by the actors union Equity is to be believed. The survey reveals that gay actors still feel that coming out affects the roles they get to play. Though the theatre is renowned as one of the most gay-friendly industries, a third of gay actors surveyed said that they had experienced homophobia within it, 57% saying it had come from other performers. Equity equalities officer Max Beckmann said: “This goes some way to explaining that many respondents, while not hiding their orientation often do not ‘broadcast it’.”

The other issue that caught our attention was that of care. Dominique Jackson, writing for the Mail, says that care for the elderly is in crisis in Britain. Having been pulled into geriatric care after her father was diagnosed with dementia, Jackson was shocked by disinterest in and lack of resources for the care of the elderly. A report by the Commons health select committee has revealed that a third of cash-strapped councils have raised fees for residential care homes over the last months. 23% of the population is predicted to be 65 years and over by 2034.

An Ipsos MORI survey for Macmillan Cancer Support suggests that people looking after those with cancer are missing out on vital support and benefits. There are around 1.1m carers for people with cancer. Only 5% of those surveyed have had a carers’ assessment by their local authority to see what assistance they could get. Many carers say their own lives are affected, with 20% saying their caring role affects their relationships. 19% said it affected their working life while 15% said it had an impact on their finances.

Want to contribute? Write to Equality.and.Diversity@lse.ac.uk

About the author

Equality and Diversity

Posted In: Weekly news

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Bad Behavior has blocked 223 access attempts in the last 7 days.