Realities of Gay and Lesbian Aging

RECENT YEARS the social workprofession has directed attention to the special needs of men and women who are homosexual. ' However. al-most no knowledge has been available to social workers about the needs of a group within the gay and lesbian community that is most vul-nerable to social. economic. and psy-chological forces and. therefore. most likely to come to the attention of so-cial workers. This is the group of older gays and lesbians. people aged 40 and over, who. by conservative esti-mate, number one and three-quarter million persons in the United States.s The purpose of this article is to report findings from in-depth interviews with eighteen older homosexuals in a pre-liminary attempt to identify the char-acteristics and needs of this group. In the absence of research and pub-lic discussion. misinformation and stereotypes about older gays and les-bians have thrived. even among social work professionals. Although the gay rights movement has helped in part to counter inaccurate information about homosexuality. the reluctance of older gays and lesbians to partici-pate in that movement has perpetu-ated a shroud of ignorance about homosexuals who are older. Some common stereotypes are that the older homosexual has no family ties and few friends. is isolated from other homosexuals. is depressed and un-happy, seeks sexual gratification from children, and with age becomes in-creasingly effeminate (in the case of men) and increasingly cold and cruel (in the case of womenj.s The author's study examined those notions and identified the unique needs. as well as strengths. of older gays and lesbians. SAMPLE AND METHOD The study defined an older homosex-ual as any individual who was self