Targeting Messages (Cont'd)

Sexual Orientation Terms

Two significant concerns can attract or discourage LGBT older adults from acting on health messages.

Privacy and Confidentiality
Many LGBT people experience discrimination and sometimes violence. Targeted messages must convey a nonjudgmental stance, respectful of individual preferences and identity. Additionally, an appropriate tone should impart a safe environment, especially if the message promotes services, courses or community activities.

Welcoming Language
In creating health messages, culturally appropriate language, whether relating to race and ethnicity or to sexual orientation, can create trust and credibility for your target audience. Use neutral terms such as "domestic partner" instead of heterosexual-relationship language (married, single, family, husband/wife) when describing relationships on intake forms or in promotional materials.

Also, ensure that you distinguish between gender identity and sexual orientation. Transgender people have a gender identity; their sexual orientation may fall anywhere within the range exhibited by nontransgender people (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual).

People call on a variety of terms when describing themselves. If a person uses a term that you have heard as insulting - for example, "fag" or "dyke" - ask what word they would like you to use. This avoids stiff or euphemistic words that convey discomfort or disapproval.