Older lesbian and gay men’s perceptions on lesbian and gay youth in Australia

Abstract

Older lesbian and gay people are increasingly open about their sexuality but have also experienced a lifetime of discrimination. These groups have experienced a long history of changes to lesbian and gay rights, and many were also at the forefront of activist movements during the latter half of the 20th century. A deeper knowledge is needed of the life experiences of these groups, including how they view their lives in relation to younger lesbian and gay people. This would assist agencies working with older lesbian and gay people, such as health and support services, to provide more informed engagement, support, understanding, and culturally safe services. Drawing on 33 qualitative interviews with older (60+ years) lesbian and gay people, we explored their experiences during their younger years and their perspectives on how these experiences compare with those of younger lesbian and gay people today. Our findings note that older lesbian and gay people feel life is, in some ways, easier, and in others, still challenging for young lesbian and gay people, and they articulate a need for mutual respect across age groups.

Keywords:

• Lesbian
• gay
• older adults
• youth
• Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We use the terms ‘lesbian women’ and ‘gay men’ to disentangle gender identity from sexual orientation, as many people of diverse genders may use the terms ‘lesbian’ or ‘gay’ to describe their sexual orientations. Additionally, lesbian women participants in this study observed that the use of just the term ‘lesbian’ was alienating, as it rendered invisible their gender identity, whereas the term gay men is more commonly used.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Australian Research Council grant LP160100221.