Written by:
Guest Author
In this piece, Richard Vytniorgu, Research Fellow in the School of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire, explores different interpretations of the notion of “generations” within the LGBTQ+ community and how this manifests in multigenerational relationships with places.
Why Do We Need Multigenerational LGBTQ+ Places?
Multigenerational and intergenerational are buzzwords right now.
For various reasons, people are becoming alert to the fact that the generations are increasingly isolated from one another, with misunderstandings and misrepresentation proliferating in all directions [1].
But often these conversations assume that people in these generations are heterosexual and gender normative. Such people are implicitly understood to align with society’s expectations for how men and women should appear, behave, and relate to one another.
So, why do we also need to turn the lens on multigenerational LGBTQ+ places?
1. Because the word ‘generation’ itself has different meanings
When people hear the word generation, they tend to think of:
- Baby boomer (born roughly 1946-65)
- Generation X (born roughly 1966-80)
- Millennial (born roughly 1981-96)
- Gen Z (born roughly 1997-2012).
Equally, someone might think of generations in terms of family structure: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents. Estimates vary as to how long a generation spans, but most fall somewhere around 20-30 years. [2]
Of course, LGBTQ+ people can align well with these broader societal definitions of generation. But for many LGBTQ+ people, the lived experience of generation – especially within families, biolegal or ‘chosen’ – is somewhat different.[3] Think of it as the difference between what French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941) referred to as clock (objective) time and durée, or subjective time. The former maps generations in terms of actual year spans, whereas the latter is how the passing of time is felt and experienced intimately.
Tucking Mill Viaduct. Photo taken by an IncludeAge participant.
For LGBTQ+ people, the experience of generation is often more in terms of durée. Gay men who lived through the HIV-AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s were brought together rapidly over a relatively short span of years, with the traumatic experience shaping gay men’s sense of shared experience and connection through a specific moment in time that was deeply felt. Equally, some trans people who transition later in life may in some ways feel more kinship with younger people who are also transitioning or have recently transitioned, brought together by shared navigation of societal stigma, healthcare provision, and legal frameworks.[4]
2. Because the past is easily forgotten
LGBTQ+ people aged 40+ in the UK have lived through historical moments and changes in which society’s attitude to them has transformed. The oldest gay men amongst us still remember a time when having sex with another man, or even simply ‘importuning’ another man for sex, risked police intervention and imprisonment. The HIV-AIDS epidemic and Section 28 (1988-2003) both shaped the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, with memories of activism and fighting for rights still fresh in their memory.[5]
In the IncludeAge project (2022-26) that I’ve been a part of, we have interviewed mid-older LGBTQ+ people in Britain to talk about their experiences of feeling included and excluded in different places in their lives. Without prompting, many have commented on the dire political situation, which seems to have worsened during 2024-25, especially after the Supreme Court ruling, in April 2025.[6] And yet, the feeling among our participants is that younger LGBTQ+ people don’t know ‘their’ history sufficiently to be alert to the danger we’re now in, in the process also missing the sense of joy that accompanied the securing of those rights. As one participant told us, ‘it would be great if there were projects and places that encouraged the generations to talk with each other’.[7]
3. Because intergenerational programmes and places are routinely ‘for’ heterosexual people
Intergenerational programmes are nothing new, but the frequency, scope, and aims of them have diversified in recent years.[8] Many are focused on ‘bookending’ generations – bringing the very young and the very old together, primary schools and care homes. This can be more doable in practical terms, but it misses swathes of nuance in between. As discussed, LGBTQ+ generations might feel ‘queered’, marked more by durée than objective time. This makes LGBTQ+-specific programmes all the more necessary, which also welcome people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s, together with teens and older people. Having specific ‘projects and places’ for LGBTQ+ people of different ages to come together would enable the specifics and diversity of LGBTQ+ experiences and wisdom to come to the fore.[9]
4. Because multigenerational LGBTQ+ places require a different approach
It’s not enough to expect LGBTQ+ people just to ‘be themselves’ or ‘adjust’ within non-LGBTQ+ intergenerational programmes or multigenerational spaces. LGBTQ+ people need their own places, where we (I include myself here) can help set the agenda. Places that prioritise:
- Hospitality
- Conversation
- Doing things together
- Sharing memories and histories
- Making space for joy
- Creating wisdom
- Sowing the seeds for longer term intergenerational LGBTQ+ dialogue.
Ultimately, we need multigenerational LGBTQ+ places because LGBTQ+ people need to feel they can take up space in places they have been historically, institutionally, and systematically excluded from.
About the Author
Richard Vytniorgu is currently Research Fellow in the School of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire. He researches gay male sexual identities and LGBTQ+ inclusion and belonging across the life course, and teaches qualitative social research, narrative, and participatory methods. You can find more information on his homepage.
References
- Intergenerational England: A Divided Kingdom (2025): https://www.intergenerationalengland.org/adividedkingdom
- Helen Kingstone and Jennie Bristow, Studying Generations: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (2024): https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/studying-generations
- Richard Vytniorgu: ‘Vicious’ queens in search of intergenerational belonging – chosen families, everyday humour, and wisdom (16 May, 2025). https://www.queerkinshipnetwork.com/blog-post/post/271679/%E2%80%98vicious%E2%80%99-queens-in-search-of-intergenerational-belonging-%E2%80%93-chosen-families-everyday-humour-and-wisdom
- Andrew King and Matthew Hall: Re-Thinking Generations from a Queer Perspective: Insights and Critical Observations from the CILIA-LGBTQI+ Lives in England Project (2024). https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/edcollchap-oa/book/9781529223507/ch009.xml
- Catherine Lee: Twenty years after section 28 repeal, lessons still need to be learned from UK’s homophobic law. The Conversation (16 November, 2023). https://theconversation.com/twenty-years-after-section-28-repeal-lessons-still-need-to-be-learned-from-uks-homophobic-law-210928
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/05/09/uk-court-ruling-threatens-trans-people
- www.includeage.co.uk
- https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Portals/35/Maps/ExeterNIHR/Non-familial_Intergenerational_Interventions.html[1] See the resources here: https://flourishinglives.org/lgbtq-history-and-intergenerational-practice-getting-the-balance-right-resources/