Being Gay and Mature

When I was on the podcast, This Week in Gay, this Sunday, I started to talk about what it meant to be gay and older. Now first I want to say that I am 57, so I am not yet a member of the Social Security generation, but I was around when Stonewall occurred, I was sixteen then. At that time very few homosexuals were out with their identification. Now the "Movement" had started; the Mattachine Society had been created, but it was not even well known. Except for the big cities we were basically alone. SO you did not tell anyone.

Things have changed greatly since that time. When I am listening to the podcasts that I follow, I am amazed at the support many are receiving from their families. It did not happen to my generation; we did not have that support, and did not develop the trust to be universally out. There are very few of us totally in the closet, but there are also very few of us that are totally out of it. We are the in-between generation.

Now there is a second problem developing as we get older. As we getting older we are now getting more depended on other people for our daily lives. Not having the trust in others, many of us are afraid that we might not be able to get the help we need from others if we are totally open about our sexuality. Since many have had to break ties with their families, many are depended on strangers for their future care. They need to be careful how they present themselves, and are stuck further in the closet. We are returning to our youths in our old age.