Life-History Interviews of Aging Gay Men

Abstract

Homosexual men and women have seldom been studied by gerontologists and almost nothing is known about the lifestyles, pattern of development through the adult years, and the effect of homosexuality on aging. Fourteen gay men, ranging in age from fifty-five to eighty-one, were interviewed about their life history and experiences of aging as gay men. Three of the respondents had long-term relationships that lasted up to forty years; two had experienced the death of a lover and had begun a new long-term relationship; four had been married to women and two had children (one unmarried man adopted a son and is now a grandfather). The wide diversity of their patterns of aging, the presence of positive aspects of gay aging, and the high life satisfaction of many of the respondents contradict the stereotype of the lonely, isolated old gay man.