Ageing (Open group)

9th Nordic Trans Studies Conference, December 8-9, 2025, Örebro University

Older trans people in later life often have specific life course experiences as well as distinct experiences relating to ageing. Applying an age-lens in relation to trans may give new perspectives on community, transitioning, life experiences, trans care, embodiment etcetera.

Presenters in this workshop are from Transsammans’ senior project, and researchers who have been working on trans ageing. Initially, everyone will give a shorter introduction in the beginning of their work/experiences followed by a discussion on themes brought up in the introductions. The conversation is then opened up where the audience are invited to join the discussion. The presentations will draw on empirical research drawing from older transpeople’s experiences in relation to ageing, community, care, dementia and ageing futures.

They will also draw from experiences from Transsammans’ senior project including the work with creating educational material as well as the formation of the senior Network.

Presenters and facilitators

●      Linn Storm, MSc in Public Health Epidemiology. Linn has been working within civil society, focusing on LGBTQI issues since 2008. She is currently leading a project at  Transammans  (an association for trans people and their families, chosen or otherwise) at promoting health among transgender individuals aged 65 and older and will share insights from this work.

●      Anna Siverskog, PhD in Ageing and Later life, Associate Professor at Gender studies, Södertörn University. Her research interests revolve around age, gender, sexuality, power, and the life course with a specific interest in LGBTQ ageing. She has explored queer aging in relation to the life course, eldercare and dementia (see e.g. https://blogg.sh.se/hbtqochdemens). Currently, she works in projects exploring relationships and living conditions among lgbtq people 65+, and in a project about tracing queer political histories in Sweden, Croatia and Romania.

●      Mara Evans, BA in psychology and PhD/associate professorship in sociology. Mara began her professional career working in grassroots organizing, labor rights, and healthcare reform in the United States, primarily in the conservative southern states. There, she led campaigns to protect workers’ rights, strengthen voting rights, and advance improvements in healthcare. Her twenty years of practical experience laid the foundation for her academic and research-oriented work. For nearly five decades, she has been building bridges between science, politics, and practice in various social and environmental issues — the past twenty-five of those years in Sweden.

●      Sofia Smolle, PhD in social work, Mid Sweden University. Sofia’s work explores the lived experiences of transgender older adults and examines professional perspectives within the welfare system. Their/her research interests include transgender and queer perspectives, queer ageing, intersectionality, norm-critical approaches, empowerment, and social welfare. They/she is particularly engaged in knowledge enhancing initiatives related to critical and radical social work, as well as LGBTQ+ activism.

●      Linn J Sandberg, Associate professor and senior lecturer in Gender studies at the School of Culture and Education, Södertörn University. Her work addresses gender, sexuality, ageing and later life. Current projects include a study on LGBTQ perspectives on dementia care in Sweden with Anna Siverskog, and another study on queer aging futures in Sweden, Estonia and Poland (read more www.iqaf.eu).

The working group is open to non-participating audiences.