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Reflecting on Life Then and Now: Interviews on the Life Courses of Older Lesbian Women and Gay Men in Australia

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Abstract

Introduction

In Australia, there is a unique cohort of older (aged 60 and over) lesbian women and gay men who reached adolescence from as early as the 1940s up until the 1970s. Many have witnessed numerous social changes regarding the acceptance of lesbian and gay people in general society. Given the uniqueness of this cohort, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the histories of this group and how they perceive their lives today.

Methods

This paper utilises the Iridescent Life-Course Perspective as a framework and draws on semi-structured interviews from 33 lesbian women and gay men aged 60 years and older residing in Australia to explore their reflections and perspectives on their lives from their younger years to today.

Results

Participants recounted challenging coming out processes, relationship breakdowns, significant loss due to the HIV/AIDs epidemic, and experiences of discrimination. Despite this, participants on-the-whole expressed gratitude for the opportunity to age where they could reflect on their lives, as well as greater confidence and self-esteem.

Conclusions

While older lesbian women and gay men experienced severe discrimination in their lives, they also demonstrated a degree of resilience, with many referring to gratitude and contentment in their lives.

Policy Implications

Knowing the challenges as well as aspects of resilience is important for understanding how older lesbian and gay adults are experiencing life today. This is particularly important for policymakers and service providers in designing support programs that address challenges, build on strengths and seek to be fully inclusive and respectful of the diversity of the past and current life experiences of this population.

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Data Availability

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the following organisations for their input and feedback on this project: LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (formerly The National LGBTI Health Alliance), COTA Australia, Carers Australia, and SANE Australia.

Funding

This research was funded by the Australian Research Council under grant number LP160100221.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Building NR6, Bundoora, VIC, 3086, Australia

    Andrea Waling, Anthony Lyons, Beatrice Alba & Victor Minichiello

  2. School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

    Beatrice Alba

  3. School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    Victor Minichiello

  4. Alice’s Garage, Melbourne, Australia

    Catherine Barrett

  5. Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast, Australia

    Mark Hughes

  6. School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

    Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen

  7. Ageing With Pride, Sydney, Australia

    Samantha Edmonds

  8. LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Sydney, Australia

    Teresa Savage

Authors
  1. Andrea Waling
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  2. Anthony Lyons
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  3. Beatrice Alba
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  4. Victor Minichiello
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  7. Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen
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  8. Samantha Edmonds
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  9. Teresa Savage
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by AW, with support from AL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AW, and all the authors provided feedback on versions of the manuscript. All the authors approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Waling.

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Ethics Approval

This research was conducted with approval from the La Trobe University Human Research Ethics Committee (S17-088).

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Participants provided informed written consent to participate in this study.

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Participants provided informed written consent to allow their deidentified data to appear in publications.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Waling, A., Lyons, A., Alba, B. et al. Reflecting on Life Then and Now: Interviews on the Life Courses of Older Lesbian Women and Gay Men in Australia. Sex Res Soc Policy 20, 350–363 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00653-z

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