Intergeneratnal Relatnships of Gay Men and Lbian Women | The Journals of Gerontology: Seri B | Oxford Amic

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He would be taller wh dark hair and mascule featur, but no more than five years my did I know, I'd bee part of a very popular relatnship trend the gay muny and was only perpetuatg s stigma. Dpe the monstrated importance of tergeneratnal ti across the life urse, few studi exame relatnships between gay men and lbians and their later life parents and parents--law. The prent study exam how midlife to later life gay men and lbians timate partnerships nceptualize the tergeneratnal analysis of 50 -pth terviews llected wh midlife to later life gay men and lbians (ag 40–72) long-term timate partnerships.

Dpe the monstrated signifince of tergeneratnal ti, few studi vtigate relatnships between midlife to later life gay men and lbian women and their later life parents—a relatnship that may be typified by distct dynamics due to gay men and lbian women’s stigmatized sexual mory stat (Averett & Jenks, 2012; Connidis, 2012). Bee same-sex marriage is not legal ferally, nor legal the state where the study took place, there is not necsarily a legal nnectn between “-laws” and gay men and lbians.

The tergeneratnal ti of gay men and lbian adult children may be typified by unique dimensns of nflict, solidary, and ambivalence, although few studi addrs this possibily. A child’s nonheterosexual inty has been shown to be associated wh negative teractns wh later life parents (D’Augelli, 2005); later life parents may be pecially unable to accept their gay or lbian child, or their child’s partner, “bee of the socpolil climate of their child-rearg years, when homosexualy was viewed as an unspeakable moral s or a ep psychologil pathology” (Sav-Williams & Cohen, 1996, p. As evince of this tergeneratnal stra, midlife to later life gay men and lbian women appear to have fewer fay nfidants than heterosexuals (Balsam, Bechae, Rothblum, & Solomon, 2008; Dewaele, Cox, n Berghe, & Vke, 2011; Grossman, D’Augelli, & Hershberger, 2000; Rostosky et al., 2004) and tend to rank social support om iends as more nsistent and important than support om fay (Biblarz & Savci, 2010; Graham & Barnow, 2013; Kurk, 2004, 2006; Lyons, Pts, & Grierson, 2013).

Gay men and lbian women are historilly unable to fulfill wily valued expectatns and valu, cludg most notably heterosexual marriage (Heath, 2012; Schulman, 2009). Th, gay and lbian tergeneratnal ti may be high on the dimensn of nflict and low on levels of solidary (Balsam et al., 2008; Kurk, 2005; Solomon, Rothblum, & Balsam, 2004). This may be particularly salient the -law tie; midlife to later life gays and lbians have rtricted accs to legal and socially sanctned marriage relatnships, yet parents--law are formally predited on a legally regnized relatnship (Oswald, 2002).

Notably, however, recent chang state and feral marriage laws allow for the possibily of participatn same-sex marriage (Hull, 2006; Lannutti, 2007; Ramos, Goldberg, & Badgett, 2009), and a growg body of rearch suggts that gay men and lbian women experience supportive and meangful bonds wh parents and -laws (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Mura, 2010; Goldberg & Smh, 2011; Oswald, 2002).

Dpe the possibili, few studi directly exame how tergeneratnal terpersonal dynamics are unrstood by gay men and lbian adult children as supportive, straed, or ambivalent. The prent study analyz 50 qualative -pth terviews nducted wh 22 lbian-intified women and 28 gay-intified men timate relatnships self-fed as mted for 7 years or longer. The origal study clud 60 terviews wh gay men and lbians; the sample analyzed the prent study clus only the 50 dividuals who were olr than 40 years at the time of the terview.

Rponnts were reced through a variety of methods cludg distributn of flyers at lol ffee shops and gay and lbian muny bullets, a booth at the annual gay and lbian pri event, rmal talks at lol gay and lbian muny groups (e. The average age was 50 years for gay men (range of 41–72 years) and 46 years for lbian women (range of 40–60 years); average relatnship duratn for gay upl was 21 years and 15 years for lbian upl.