Midlife and Aging in Gay America
Midlife and Aging in Gay America has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, Volume 13, Number 4 2001.
Midlife and Aging in Gay America
Proceedings of the SAGE Conference 2000
Douglas C. Kimmel, PhD
Dawn Lundy Martin, PhD (Cand.)
Editors
Midlife and Aging in Gay America has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, Volume 13, Number 4 2001.
First published by
Harrington Park Press, 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA
Harrington Park Press is an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA.
This edition published 2012 by Routledge
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
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Routledge
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Midlife and Aging in Gay America has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, Volume 13, Number 4 2001.
2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Cover design by Jennifer M. Gaska
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
SAGE Conference 2000.
Midlife and aging in gay America : proceedings of the SAGE Conference 2000 / Douglas C. Kimmel, Dawn Lundy Martin, editors.
p. cm.
Co-published simultaneously as Journal of gay & lesbian social services, volume 13, number 4, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56023-260-9 ((hard) : alk. paper) ISBN 1-56023-261-7 ((pbk) : alk. paper)
1. Aged gays-United States-Congresses. 2. Middle aged gays-United States-Congresses. I. Kimmel, Douglas C. II. Martin, Dawn Lundy. III. Senior Action in a Gay Environment (Organization) IV. Journal of gay & lesbian social services. V. Title.
HQ75.115 .S24 2000
305.244-dc21
2002003500
SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment) is a social service agency and intergenerational group that seeks to improve the quality of life for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons of all ages, ethnic/racial groups, and walks of life. The editors of this volume are symbolic of the intergenerational goal that is represented by SAGE. Dawn Lundy Martin is a graduate student, African-American, and was involved with SAGE as the coordinator of the first nationwide conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender aging in 1998. Douglas C. Kimmel is a retired professor of psychology of northern European background; he was one of the co-founders of SAGE in 1977.
When SAGE began, one goal was to eliminate the myth that aging as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person was a dreadful experience of loneliness and despair. Young people need to know that coming into the gay community can lead to a long and fulfilling life that offers great potential for creativity, friendship, love, and adventure. Everyone has the opportunity to invent their lives as they see fit, since there are no strict roles established by society. For this reason, role models such as those represented by older lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders are especially important for young and middle-aged persons to know and to emulate.
Presenters at the second nationwide conference sponsored by SAGE in New York City in May 2000 submitted the articles in this collection. Everyone was invited to send in an article or brief reports and members of the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services editorial board reviewed these. Those that were accepted were revised and are presented here. They represent a diversity of topics and interestsa diversity almost as great as that represented by SAGE itself.
The book is organized into four sections. First, the keynote speeches are summarized by way of introduction to the importance of the topic for the broader society. Virginia Apuzzo is an openly lesbian, white, and a national leader in the political movement for equal rights for persons of all sexual orientations and was Assistant to President Clinton for Management and Administration; her closing speech gave the conference their marching orders for renewed social action on aging issues. Billy Jones is an openly gay, African-American psychiatrist, who has been prominent in the health care system of New York City; he discusses his own experience of growing older. Rose Dobrof is openly heterosexual and Jewish; she has been a member of the advisory board of SAGE since its inception and has been a national leader in the field of aging as a social worker and educator. Tina Donovan is a 61-year-old transgender woman who, in her response to the keynote speeches, gives a firsthand testimonial concerning the struggles of being transgender and getting older.
The second section is a series of three articles presenting general overviews on the issues and concerns of older lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. Arnold Grossman and his colleagues have conducted one of the largest and most representative studies of this population to date. Lester Brown and colleagues report on four ethnographic studies of older gay men. James Kelly and Raymond Berger, pioneers in the field of gay male aging, summarize their own work.
The third section presents general topics of interest. John Yoakam discusses intergenerational relationships of older and younger gay men, recently displayed in popular films such as Gods and Monsters. Steven Mock reports on a study of the retirement intentions of same-sex couples. Kristina Hash describes her pilot study of caregiving experiences of older gay men and lesbians. Carol Sussman-Skalka describes vision problems and issues for older adults. Doneley Meris reports on his research among homeless HIV-infected gay men.
We thank the contributors and reviewers for helping us assemble this special volume. Raymond Berger has been especially supportive as the honorary journal editor. We hope it assists in the goal we all share in the field of aging: to have a long life that is filled with living.
Douglas C. Kimmel
Dawn Lundy Martin
[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: Preface. Kimmel, Douglas C., and Dawn Lundy Martin. Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services (Harrington Park Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 13, No. 4, 2001, pp. xxiii-xxiv; and: Midlife and Aging in Gay America (ed: Douglas C. Kimmel, and Dawn Lundy Martin) Harrington Park Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2001, pp. xiii-xiv. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: ].
