Abstract
My interest in the life course is twofold. First, I am interested in how resilient are gay friendship networks and gay relationships, and whether they will sustain gay men as they age. Second, I am interested in how the gay ‘community’ addresses the issue of gay ageing. I lived through the HIV-AIDS epidemic and, like many others, was impressed by the way in which as a group gay men responded to the external threat posed by the disease. I wonder now if gay men can/will respond similarly to the issue of ageing, which is of concern because of evidence suggesting that gay men are forced back into the closet the moment they take up residence in aged-care accommodation facilities.1
What identified me as a gay person when I was younger was the edginess of what was going on in the community. And we are not edgy anymore. We are truly mainstream and that just kills me. … I don’t know if that is a feature of getting older or the gay community has assimilated in such a way that we have become boring.
(Marvin, aged 59, Los Angeles)
Younger gay men in Mumbai have a different kind of mentality. Their notion of fun or of party are different from mine and that means I do not involve myself with [them]. … I would rather go to a house party and sit around and have conversations and drinks than go to a nightclub and dance the night away with all that [naked] skin and smoke and everything.
(William, aged 27, Mumbai)
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Notes
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Robinson, P. (2013). Introduction. In: Gay Men’s Relationships Across the Life Course. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314680_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314680_1
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