Sexual Orientation and Aging in Western Society

This chapter examines more than thirty years of research about lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older adults. Although it provides a significant portrait of the lives of groups of LGB older adults, it also demonstrates the substantial gaps in our knowledge. Many of the studies address areas of concern related to cohort and period effects, however, none of them directly assesses how the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of LGB older adults are directly affected by the historical changes that have occurred, such as the depathologizing of homosexuality, the decriminalizing of sexual behaviors, the ability to obtain a civil union in some locales, the availability of same-sex marriage, and the existence of several retirement communities for nonheterosexual people. These and similar topics need to be addressed in future research.