Content Warning

This episode of Older Queer Voices is not just about history. It is about memory, protest, grief, and survival.

Host Raga D'silva is in conversation with Jonathan Blake, one of the first people in the UK to survive an AIDS diagnosis. Diagnosed in 1982 and told he had just months to live, Jonathan’s life became an act of resistance in a time when fear travelled faster than facts and silence was often more deadly than the virus itself.

In this deeply moving conversation, Jonathan shares
•⁠ ⁠What it meant to receive a diagnosis before HIV even had a name
•⁠ ⁠Living through isolation, stigma, and the fear of death
•⁠ ⁠Finding love, community, and purpose in the midst of crisis
•⁠ ⁠His activism with Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
•⁠ ⁠The power of memory through the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt

This is a story of survival, but more importantly, it is a story of defiance, visibility, and the refusal to be erased.

Viewer discretion is advised as this conversation includes themes of illness, grief, and suicide.

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Older Queer Voices stands in solidarity with our Trans and Non-binary community in India.

This powerful episode discusses the current situation in India for transgender and non-binary communities, in the context of the proposed Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Amendment Bill 2026 and its potential impact on the right to self-identification, dignity, and protection from discrimination.

The conversation explores how these developments relate to the landmark NALSA vs Union of India 2014 decision reaffirmed something powerful - the right to self-identify, and the right to live with dignity and without discrimination. That was not symbolic. That was a constitutional promise.

But today, that promise is being tested. As conversations move towards verification, certification, and external validation, we are being forced to ask whether we are strengthening rights or quietly taking them away.

In this conversation, we also go deeper into the hijra community, a community with centuries of history, identity, and belonging. A community that has always existed, always been visible, yet is still struggling to be fully recognised on its own terms within modern systems.

This is an ongoing and evolving issue, and the views shared by our guests reflect their lived experiences and perspectives.

Joining Raga D’silva are Zainab Patel and Harish Iyer, in a powerful discussion on identity, law, and the realities faced by trans, non-binary, and hijra communities today.

Instagram:

Zainab Patel – @radhikanandgiri

Harish Iyer - @iyerharish

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In this episode of Older Queer Voices with Raga D’silva, we explore how community, advocacy, and practical support come together to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people as we grow older.

Our guests are Dr. Paul Martin OBE, founder and CEO of the LGBT Foundation, and Tina Wadden, Head of Education at the Foundation.

The LGBT Foundation, based in Greater Manchester, is one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ health and community support charities. It provides helpline support, talking therapies, domestic abuse services, community safety programs, recovery initiatives, advocacy for trans people, and much more, reaching tens of thousands of people every year.

We discuss the Foundation’s 50-year history, its pioneering Pride in Ageing programme for LGBTQ+ people over 50, and the ongoing work to create safe, dignified, and celebratory spaces for older queer communities.

From improving care homes and healthcare access to intergenerational conversations and social housing initiatives, this episode dives deep into what it truly means to age as a queer person in the UK today.

Join us to hear their incredible journeys, the challenges older LGBTQ+ people face, and the inspiring ways the community is building hope, joy, and resilience for the future.

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