AARP Pri: The Gay Man's Gui to Datg After ...

Contents:

• 7 REASONS WHY MY BEG GAY AND OVER 50 IS TRAGIC, ACRDG TO EVERYONE ELSE
• COMBATTG THE VISIBILY OF OLR GAY MEN
• THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO DATG AFTER 50
• TOP LGBT-FRIENDLY PLAC FOR GAY SENR TRAVEL AND RETIREMENT
• GAY MEN AND AGG
• 5 GUIL FOR GAY DATG AFTER 50 (AUG. 2023)
• GAY MEN OVER 50 SOCIAL GROUP
• MAKG THE MOST OF SENR GAY DATG APPSSHARE MAKG THE MOST OF SENR GAY DATG APPS
• GAY SENR DATG: AUTHENTIC CONNECTNS TODAYSHARE GAY SENR DATG: AUTHENTIC CONNECTNS TODAY

7 REASONS WHY MY BEG GAY AND OVER 50 IS TRAGIC, ACRDG TO EVERYONE ELSE

Revealg that you're lbian or gay marks an important tone your life. More than half of gay men and nearly 40% of lbian women surveyed 2013 said they had e out to iends and fay before age cisn isn't easy for everyone, though. I’m a 52-year-old gay man, and last year was the year that I fally chose to be open about who I am.

She was homophobic. She got so ncerned that fally I admted, "No, I really want to tell you that I'm gay.

Never md gettg turned down for a wrg job I ially created (they gave to an unrwear mol who don’t wre), I’ve learned that, gay world, my creativy should have end about the time many of my iends’ liv did. I’m unr-reprented gay-themed films and TV shows, and prt publitns don’t seem to know that I exist.

COMBATTG THE VISIBILY OF OLR GAY MEN

If someone don’t know about Boy Gee g out on TV or Tth or Dare’s gay kiss or the AIDS quilt, then sffs off as “an age thg, ” they are lerally sayg that ignorance is preferable to knowledge. There’s nothg I love more then when young gay men ask me about LGBT life the 80s, and I’m thrilled I n tell them about the ups and downs.

My own favore sentimental gay-old story? He died after passg on a treasure trove of gay history.

Who would have thought the notn of marriage beg the measure of te happs would bee a gay norm?

THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO DATG AFTER 50

Largt Men Over 50 groups1Friends Over 501, 502 Members | Raleigh, USADana RamosOrganized by Dana RamosDana RamosOrganized by Dana Ramos2The Elizabeth Taylor 50-Pl Network for Gay, Bi & Trans Men1, 216 50-Plsers | San Francis, USAVce CrisostomoOrganized by Vce CrisostomoVce CrisostomoOrganized by Vce Crisostomo3Sgl Over 50 Friends Group689 Members | Atlantic Cy, USASharon SteOrganized by Sharon SteSharon SteOrganized by Sharon Ste4Sprg Over 50 Meetup Group670 Members | Sprg, USATony R FrostOrganized by Tony R FrostTony R FrostOrganized by Tony R Frost5Cise Enthiasts of Central Florida329 Members | Kissimmee, USAJohn HolnOrganized by John HolnJohn HolnOrganized by John Holn6The Dner Club - Wt Mids, Staffs, Shrops260 Dner Club Members | Codsall, Uned KgdomMo PerksOrganized by Mo PerksMo PerksOrganized by Mo Perks7Walkg the World of Disney176 Adventurers | Clermont, USAJohn HolnOrganized by John HolnJohn HolnOrganized by John Holn8The Happs Practice Club Phoenix164 Members | Phoenix, USADaphne S. Why are gay men over 50 beg erased by our culture? About a year ago, after five years work, endls rewr and table readgs, a film-ftival award, and put om gay iends the dtry, I fally took a ep breath and sent my queer-themed s pilot, “Life After Death, ” to agents and producers.

The reactns were swift and mercils, one (gay) agent wrg me that, although the show was funny, the characters were praved, the language vile, the sexual referenc unthkable for a mastream, albe ble TV, dience.

The show, about a fifty-year-old gay man stgglg to overe alholism, narcissism, and a sex-addicted past, and set agast the backdrop of his tumblg L. Wrg reer, wasn’t meant to be the next “This Is Us” or even “Lookg, ” a rare age-iendly dramedy filled wh gay sex scen.

TOP LGBT-FRIENDLY PLAC FOR GAY SENR TRAVEL AND RETIREMENT

Although I’ve been wrg forever—wh all the sults such a reer volv—and have penned four screenplays the past two years, the cricisms for this piece h me like bricks bee they were a direct afont to the last generatn of unbridled, yet rtricted, gay men who’ve survived spe a former panmic’s sire to kill every last one. Wh the rise of TV anti-hero like Tony Soprano and Walter Whe, and a fondns for darker, more plited characters general, I thought, naively, that a mature, gay male lead would be weled the same manner. In “The Flight Attendant, ” hero Cassie Bown (Kaley Christe Cuo) guzzl vodka and one-night-stands her way around the globe, but she at least has her sated, gay, married wh children, olr brother, Davey (T.

Supportg gays as sats or sners are always wele.

But show a grown gay man happily adm to takg Tvada and ’s like you’ve set the TV set on fire. Knight plays a “supportg gay” The Flight Attendant | Photo: Phil Caso/Warner Bros. Y, somehow, grown gay men who adm to once havg paid for sex are anathema to our puranil gay morals.

GAY MEN AND AGG

The problem wh puttg gay men my age the spotlight isn’t that we’re attracted to, and havg relatns wh, the same sex (thank people like Murphy and others for helpg to break that TV barrier). Of the hundreds of gay men I met and beiend when I me out at the young age of sixteen, roughly twenty of them survived AIDS. Olr gay men are seen as relics.

In the procs, olr gay men are often seen (or not seen, as were) as relics, tugged by ntrastg thentici. Sce our generatn grew up a time when Pri often meant “Party, ” endorsed by every gay rag at our reach, we’re also chockfull of revery programs and relatnship PTSD.

The gays of my generatn are also wicked smart and fascatg, as all survivors are. As every gay man over the age of fifty knows, we didn’t jt live through ath; we disvered the life that afterward.

5 GUIL FOR GAY DATG AFTER 50 (AUG. 2023)

If a homosexual (or heterosexual) thought has never crossed your md, for example, n be doubly astonishg when — wham! But Diamond and other rearchers have piled numero se studi of gay men who spent years feelg (and actg) fully and fortably homosexual, only then to fall unexpectedly love wh a heterosexual woman.

) Vlet loved San wh all her heart, but she did not fe herself as gay the wake of the affair — nor has she bee volved another same-sex relatnship sce. Ned had been gay his entire adult life. Neher is datg at midlife — pecially if you're a gay man.

Right, gay datg isn't easy. You're never too old to fd love, but that's not a msage gay men hear very often.

GAY MEN OVER 50 SOCIAL GROUP

The gay muny's — OK, let's get real, mostly the gay male muny's — ageism. "Wh the gay muny, negative stereotyp rerce the belief that gay relatnships are based solely on physil attractn, and that once youth starts to fa, we are unlikely to have any real or lastg relatnships, " says Rik Isensee, thor of Are You Ready?

The Gay Man's Gui to Thrivg at Midlife.

For every 20-somethg enterg the gay datg scene full of wi-eyed wonr, there's a 50-somethg (or a 60-, 70- or olr-somethg) man back on the market after a relatnship ends. Do walkg to a gay bar make you feel more out of place than Lady Gaga shoppg for cloth at a mall?

MAKG THE MOST OF SENR GAY DATG APPSSHARE MAKG THE MOST OF SENR GAY DATG APPS

For example, if you like the outdoors, jo a gay hikg or walkg group, and meet men while you get h air and exercise. Hey, you don't have to tell me 's tough beg gay, sgle and over 50. It's not like gay subculture has given lots of happily datg, olr gay male role mols.

GAY SENR DATG: AUTHENTIC CONNECTNS TODAYSHARE GAY SENR DATG: AUTHENTIC CONNECTNS TODAY

Wh all the foc on marriage equaly the days, 's easy for gay men to thk that beg sgle and happy is an oxymoron. I n thk of somethg far worse than beg sgle, gay and olr.

Beg upled, gay and unhappy. Now more than ever, ’s important for gay senrs to have accs to safe and welg plac to vis and settle down. ) to fd some of the bt plac for gay retirement and travel.