Sexual Identity Differences in Aging and the Life Course

Queer theory questions and destabilizes normative and traditional ideas about gender and sexual expressions and identities (Butler, 1990; Fabbre, 2014; Halberstam, 2005; Sedgwick, 1990)

Relying on the traditions of critical gerontology and queer theory, I develop the concept of queer aging to suggest that the meaning of aging among LGB adults ). The term queer is used in this article to signify a nonnormative way of being, consistent with its usage within queer theory. Queer theorists also emphasize the distinctiveness of queer culture and lives, which in part developed out of systematic exclusion from the institution of ). For example, due to estrangement from biological family, LGB people formed their own unique subculture, rejecting biological and reproductive definitions of kinship; in turn, they embraced friends as chosen family and as a source of support (de Vries et al., 2019; Weston, 1997). Despite pressures to assimilate into mainstream culture given the liberalization of same-sex ; Warner, 1999), some members of the LGB community retain distinctive features of queer subculture, including continuing to embrace chosen family (Hull & Ortyl, 2019). Thus, queer subculture has implications for how LGB people view the future (Edelman, 2004; Sandberg & ), including visions for late life.

Survey evidence suggests that nearly 75% asiame -konto of LGBTQ adults believe that their gender or sexual minority status has prepared them for aging (MetLife Mature )

Queer aging also entails the recognition that queer subculture may shift how temporarily and time are experienced (Edelman, 2004; Fabbre, 2014; Halberstam, 2005). For example, LGB people often violate societal expectations about when major life events should occur; these normative sequencing expectations are known as chronormativity (Freeman, 2010). Indeed, LGB people have not historically met heterosexual-centric markers of adulthood (i.e., marriage, childrearing) and, in other cases, these major life events were delayed until fairly recently (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Kim, 2017; Freeman, 2010; Halberstam, 2005; Rosenfeld, 2010). A lack of access to marriage and childrearing also has implications for how LGB people’s lives unfold, potentially creating distinct experiences in late adulthood.

LGB people’s experiences with aging may also be distinct, due to the impacts of inequality across the life course. Drawing on the insights of cumulative disadvantage theory, I emphasize that discriminatory experiences LGB people face earlier in life may be responsible for heightened challenges in late adulthood (see also Torres & Lacy, 2021). Minority stress theorists also acknowledge that stigma and discrimination lead to diminished well-being, which ong individuals who are multiply ; McConnell et al., 2018; Meyer, 2014). Similarly, earlier homophobic experiences may compromise older LGB people’s quality of life in late adulthood.

Indeed, there is already some evidence that older LGB people face unique challenges in late adulthood. Older LGB people have smaller social networks, resulting in higher rates of social isolation, loneliness, and depression (Boggs et al., 2017; de Vries & Blando, 2004; Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2015; Kimmel, 2004). In addition, because many members of this community are without children and/or experienced estrangement from biological families due to homophobic discrimination, they may lack a caregiver in late adulthood (de Vries & Blando, 2004; Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2015). In contrast, their heterosexual counterparts regularly rely on unpaid care, especially adult children (Victor, 2005).

Simultaneously, it is possible that older LGB people are resilient and adapt well to the challenges of aging. For example, successful aging and crisis competence theories suggest that LGB people have developed strategies for combating homophobia that allow them to more effectively adjust to the aging process (Friend, 1990; Kimmel, 2004). Thus, I also ask whether LGB people adopt creative strategies to cope with aging-related challenges that arise in late adulthood.