Social Services for Senior Gay Men and Lesbians by Jean K Quam

Author:Jean K Quam [Quam, Jean K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Psychology, Mental Health, Social Science, LGBTQ+ Studies, Gay Studies, Gerontology, Women's Studies
ISBN: 9781317764212
Google: eqDrAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-02-25T16:02:18+00:00

GROUP DESCRIPTION

The groups were conducted in a private, not-for-profit human service agency that provides professional mental health counseling and comprehensive family support services. The “Lesbian and Gay Counseling Program” which began in 1975, offers affordable, professional counseling and community education services to gay, lesbian, and bisexual people on an outpatient basis. The program sees an average of about 120 gay men a year. In the past two years, fewer than 3% of these men were over the age of 55.

An ad (Appendix A) was placed in a local gay paper announcing an eight-week support group for “maturing gay men” (over the age of 40): “men who graduated from high school before the Stonewall riot.” Two groups were offered, one in the spring and the other in the fall of 1992. Seven men were interviewed for the first group. All seven were invited to participate. Two men in this group had recently been involved in therapy at other agencies and indicated that they were on medications for depression. Twelve men were interviewed and nine were invited to participate in the second group. Two men screened themselves out. A third was screened due to severe psychopathology (age 67). One of the men in the second group indicated he was on medication for depression. Of the 16 men who started the groups, one man dropped out within the first three weeks; all of the others completed the group.

The average age of all the group members was 53 years. The oldest group member was 69; the youngest, 46. Eleven of the 16 group members were between the ages of 46 and 55. The other five men were ages 57, 58, 59, 65, and 69. All of the men who responded were white. Two men had less than a college degree, eight had college degrees, and six had postgraduate degrees. Eleven of the men had an income over $35,000 (one was retired), four had incomes less than $35,000 (one was retired), and one man was not working (not retired).

Interpersonal relationships was an area of particular interest to the men we interviewed. Seven of the 16 men had been in heterosexual marriages; five had children. Their average age was 53. Only one man was married at the time of the group and he was in the process of a divorce. One man was widowed. Two previously-married men reported a history of gay partnerships (3 years and 13 years). Both of these relationships had ended in the past year; one due to an AIDS-related death and the other due to a relationship breakup. The other five men reported at least some sexual activity with other men.

Five of the 16 men reported they had been involved in a relationship with a gay partner and had not been in a heterosexual marriage. Their average age was 53. Two of these men were involved in their relationships at the time of the group (7 years, 17 years). Two other men reported that their relationships (25 years, 10 years) had ended due to a breakup within the past year.

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