Gay America Turns Gray
LGBTs who are currently in their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond have lived through most of their years during an era when the closet was the rule rather then the exception; they’ve seen the dawn of the modern gay rights movement and survived the AIDS crisis. Now, they’re becoming pioneers in yet another moment of queer cultural significance: the graying of gay America.
The number of seniors (gay, straight and otherwise) is expected to grow from twelve to twenty percent of the U.S. population within the next quarter century -- translating into as many as five million LGBTs. With same sex marriage looming as the inevitable law of the land, the increased amount of LGBTs adopting and having children and an unprecedented era of visibility and acceptance, the future looks brighter than ever for those spending their senior years out of the closet; but along with the unprecedented opportunities come a myriad of unique and unexpected challenges.
Living Single
"The current generation of LGBT seniors are twice as likely to live alone as their heterosexual counterparts." notes Karen Taylor, Director of Advocacy and Training for SAGE (a national social service and advocacy organization dedicated to LGBT senior citizens; sageusa.org). "What that means in terms of senior services, is that this generation will be very much at risk for things like falling, depression, malnutrition and substance abuse. When they do seek help by checking into a hospital, they have to identify who’s going to take them home. Many older LGBTs experience additional stress because they don’t have a person in their lives like that to rely upon."
This lack of life partners, close relatives or children directly translates into decreased support for aging LGBTs -- a major a concern of Gail Gazelle, MD (Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and President the patient advocacy practice MD Can Help). Gazelle: "Sadly, I think the biggest issue for the graying gay community is a different form of ’the haves vs. the have nots.’ I’m not talking about money here; the main issue for gays as they age is whether they have someone in the next generation looking out for them or not. As a physician seeing many geriatric cases, this is the most important factor. And although we have experienced a lesbian baby boom, many lesbians came of age at a time when it was distinctly ’uncool’ to become mothers.
For gay men, it’s only recently and in very few geographic areas of the country, that it is now acceptable for them to become dads. My recommendation: cultivate relationships with those nieces and nephews now!"
From WWII to Generation X
Those in their late 70s and 80s who grew up in the years during and just beyond World War II (the Greatest Generation) are still living with the consequences of, according to Taylor, "coming of age when being open about their sexuality was a life threatening act of courage. Their expectations are shaped by the necessity of surviving rather than the aspiration of thriving. There was institutionalized oppression in many forms. Theirs was a generation that could expect to be fired, lose their children, and be limited in jobs if they were out."
The relatively newfound freedom to express your sexual identity came to them late in life -- whereas the next generation (the Baby Boomers) will forever be thought of within "the context of the Stonewall rebellion. They created the modern gay rights movement and have embraced their sexual orientation and gender identity. This generation is far more insistent in combating marginalization. They harbor a much higher expectation about opportunities and fulfillment in their later years."
But what does that mean for Generation X; the cynical adolescents of the 70s whose formative years were informed by the cautionary evils of Watergate and disco -- whose adolescence occurred long before gay/straight alliances and just after HIV? As usual, they’ll lick their wounds by reaping the many benefits initiated by Boomers (who gave them Stonewall, AIDS activism and gay rights legislation -- and are poised to make being old in the twenty-first century as hip as being young in the 1960s).
If coasting on the efforts of their slightly older predecessors seems unfair, Taylor reminds us that it’s the inevitable result of advances on the part of time and society -- and everybody does it. She traces this from "the Greatest generation, who never had expectations they’d be able to marry the one they love; to Boomers, who crafted public policy; to Generation Xers who will see the fruits of that, in terms of quality of life."
