Differences in Health Outcomes between Older Gay and Heterosexual Men

Thanks to our colleagues at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research for this brand new study looking at differences in health outcomes between older gay/lesbian and heterosexual populations in California. Some highlights:

• 50% of gay men live alone compared to 13% of heterosexual men.
• 36% of gay men are partnered/married compared to 79% of heterosexual men.
• Overall, older gay men's health is worse than that of their heterosexual peers.

These findings are very consistent with what we know from other studies (yet, ethnic minority older gay folks are not well represented in these data, so we can not make generalizations to all older gay men in the State).

Now, let's not jump to quick and easy conclusions that patologize single life or call for marriage. What we should gather from these data is that older gay men (along with lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people) are changing the face of aging and that their health is uniquely fragile.

Queer Gerontology

Queering gerontology means to critically analyze the heterosexual norms shaping scholarship in gerontology. The idea is not new, but only a handful of authors have written about it (Mark Hughes, 2006). It reminds fairly unexplored.

Queering gerontology is a strategy, more than a concept. It is a strategy to raise questions, develop methodologies, and gather empirical data. It works as a set of lenses to look at gerontology. The goal is to unmask and deconstruct the ways in which heterosexual dominant norms define what it means to be of old age – from the decline of health to retiring and living in assisted facilities or nursing homes.

This strategy also implies making visible same sex desire, love, and relationships in old age. To make gerontology queer requires documenting the manner in which older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people live.

The queering of gerontology will not only create a critical stand and analysis, it will also help redefine the actual aging experience. It will inform policy changes, health care delivery, and housing.

We Where Here & Obituaries

This new documentary, We Where Here, promises to be a so needed historical piece on the arrival of the AIDS epidemic and the gay liberation movement. There is a plethora of books, academic and otherwise –including my on forthcoming book Compañeros – chronicling the AIDS epidemic and its impact on the gay and lesbian communities, but we’re missing the imagery, sounds, and voices of the time. It will be screened this weekend at Sundance.

Take a look at the trailer here http://wewereherefilm.com/.

Through the film’s site, I found the archive of the obituaries published by the San Francisco gay news paper, Bay Area Reporter. I found myself hooked reading those published in the 1980s-1990s. To give you a sense of the devastation among gay men: between January and February of 1982, there were only 2 obituaries published, four years later, same month: 74.
I'm showing two obituaries here from the archive of the 1990s.

The boomers in the NYT and the ones I know

This piece on the NYT reminded me of a man (to whom I’d refer to as Charles) I have come to know in the last few months. He is turning 60 in a few weeks. He is gay and living with HIV since the mid 1990s. Charles has never had a birthday cake or celebration. Never. Growing up, he did not have mom or dad around. He was abused. He has been in many places. I can see his wounds and his fragility through his eyes. Charles rarely looks directly into my eyes. He chuckles anxiously and briefly; it sounds like a cry. But he is tall and looks robust, despite his frail health.

Charles does know that a few of his new friends (and I) are preparing a birthday celebration for him, with a home-made cake. We know he is not in a good place right now, but hope he comes out for his birthday cake.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/us/01boomers.html?hpw

Boomers Hit New Self-Absorption Milestone: Age 65

National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day

Today, September 18, we remember and speak about the older men, women, and transgenders living with HIV/AIDS. For one day, or even for a few minutes, let’s make them visible. As the National Institutes of Health’s statement notes, this population group is growing and its health challenges are mounting –although we still know very little about the implications of aging with HIV/AIDS and the medical treatments.

Sharing and making visible our stories

Gen Silent is a new documentary film on the difficulties senior lesbian, gay, and transgender people are facing to address their basic health needs. This is about discrimination and silence in old age. Thanks to Stu Maddux for creating another powerful and moving film. We need to get these stories out in the big and small screen, the cyberworld, the press, and in our dining tables.

Come and support the film when it comes to your city. Check the website for updates.

From the Ashes Risen

Take a look at this trailer and learn about this documentary project by Tribal Elder Productions. This is a unique and needed effort to collect testimonials of older gay men who have survived HIV and AIDS. The stories in the trailer are sad. You can see and hear the grieving as they cry and recount the stories of their lost friends and lovers. And there are some details that tell us about our efforts to maintain a collective memory, a history, in the face of possible extinction. For example, some men kept a list of those how had died. Others still keep their personal address book, marking those who have passed away.

The story of the AIDS epidemic remains unresolved. Not only are people still getting infected, but also we, gay men, are still struggling with guilt, the morality of HIV/AIDS, the courage and hope we once had, grief, and bigotry.

Thanks to Roger Goodman and his team for undertaking this task.