Transcript In the Shadow of Sexuality: Older African

In the Shadow of Sexuality:
Social Support and Health Challenges in
the Lives of Older African American
Sexual Minorities
Mignon R. Moore, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Sociology and African American Studies
Co-Director, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research UCLA
Moore, Mignon R. Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships
and Motherhood among Black Women. (California Press, 2011)
Health Domains
Physical and mental health
 Access to health care
 Social support

Research Aims
1. Assess major factors influencing physical
health, mental health and access to
medical care for older African American
sexual minorities, determine the ways
community institutions can better service
them
Research Aims
2. Qualitatively describe social context of
aging, define characteristics of support
systems, determine the directions of
exchange these systems provide
Research Aims
3. Combine the qualitative data with
archival data to learn about the social
histories of this group: how they
understood their own sexual orientation,
race, and gender in the context of the
social movements of that time
Focus for Today’s Presentation
Qualitatively define the characteristics of
support systems, determine the directions
of exchange these systems provide
Mental health, physical health, access to health
care are critical issues for this population
High rates of HIV/AIDS among
African American gay and bisexual men
born before 1956
 Specific barriers in accessing health care
 Laws and policies discriminate against
older LGBT adults

Social Support

The sources and functioning of social
support may be different for older African
American sexual minorities, relative to
their heterosexual counterparts and
White LGBT counterparts
Social Support


Resources that individuals provide each
other –includes affection, aid, and affirmation.
Operates through direct and indirect means,
across multiple dimensions
◦ Emotional support
◦ Instrumental assistance
◦ Informational assistance
(Cohen & Syme 1985; Crohan & Antonucci 1989; Berkman 1984;
Martire et al 1999)
Qualitative Interview Data
Types: In-depth interviews (50), focus group
interviews (2), participant-observation field notes
Descriptive Characteristics (N=50)
Men
40%
Women
60%
Mean Age: 65 (born 1945)
Age Range: 54 – 81 years (born 1956-1929)
LA: 40% of sample NY: 60% of sample
Respondent (standing) at his father’s
90th birthday party
Findings


Deteriorating health and lack of mobility
pressing problems for 90% of
respondents
Social isolation and depression
mentioned by almost everyone as well
Esther Boward* (b. 1937), retired nurse
(*all names are pseudonyms)
In our day it was not considered a good thing
to have children. That was not encouraged.
There was no community for that. Lesbians
didn’t have babies…Either adopting them or
having them naturally was not sanctioned by the
greater culture back in the late fifties and sixties.
It just wasn’t…
…The perception was you weren’t considered
fit to raise a child, or that, more so in the male
community, you and your partner might molest
a child or influence a child’s sexuality…All of
those things were major prohibitions against
having children.
Findings
Many older sexual minorities do not have
children and are missing a key source of
social support
Findings

Assumption in past research:
Homophobia results in emotionally
distant relationships between LGBT
people and their families of origin

Current study suggests: Racialized sexual
minority elders may maintain closer kin
relationships than what has been assumed
in past research
Thomas O’Malley (b.1949), retired
postal worker
I guess I never really been comfortable with being
gay, even now...If someone asks me if I am gay, I
won’t answer them directly. I would ask them,
“So why do you want to know? Why are you
concerned? Are you interested or something?”
Turn it back on them you know, and I never
answer them. Even my son. Well my nephew
that I raised. I call him my son…
…He asked me a couple of times and I just told
him “You know what? Whatever my sexual
preference is, is not your business.” I said,
“Straight or gay. I don’t feel like the
parents should discuss their sex life with
their children.”
And that is how I left it. And that is basically the
answer I give anybody, even now.
Thomas O’Malley
I am the oldest in the group of my siblings. I
don’t want to be the leader. I don’t want to be
the person in charge. I am sick of it and I think
because I am gay and it has been known since
before birth, so I think that people do tend to
go to that person that they can depend on. That
they can rely on and for me,…
…many people in the gay and lesbian
community, they are that person that people
will come to, and I’m tired of it. I love my family.
Love them dearly and I know they will give a
whole bunch of lives for me, but they still look
at you as that resource for information, for
money.
Darlene Clark (b. 1951), retired film
producer
(excerpt from Focus Group)
Yeah like my brothers told me, they say, “You’re the
matriarch of the family.” I’m the youngest. I’m the
youngest. I said, “We still got a sister who is older than
me. Why don’t you go bug her?” [They reply] “But
you’re the matriarch.”
James Woodson: We put ourselves in that position
sometimes...We take care of the sick, the shut-in, the
elderly and it seems like we sometimes put our lives on
hold.
Darlene Clark
Actually we took care of Mama and Daddy as
soon as we started making two dimes because
we didn’t have little crumb-snatchers [children].
We took care of them [our parents] and
they’ve started to rely on us for everything
throughout life and then when they passed on,
then of course, here comes their other children
[our siblings]. Coming to you for this, that, and
the other.
Findings

Assumption in past research: Social support
as one-way exchange of resources, LGBT
people primarily as recipients of support

This work suggests social support is a
multi-directional exchange, where older
LGBT racial minorities maintain close
relations with kin/community members,
provide support
Penelope Ford, retired educator
(b. 1941)
Men, their situation looks a little different from
lesbian women because of AIDS. I know men who
have no friends left. They’ve had two or three
partners to die from AIDS. They are HIV positive
themselves or they have AIDS and they are living
with it. So, the picture in the men’s community is a
little different from the picture in the women’s
community in terms of aging LBGT people.
Findings
African-American gay men in this age cohort
may organize and maintain partnerships in
ways that are distinct from heterosexual
marital relationships
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Fewer restrictions around sexual monogamy
Partners maintain separate households
Limited mingling of resources
Legally marrying someone of the opposite sex to
appear heterosexual
Summary
LGBT elders face unique barriers to successful
aging. They often lack traditional support
systems in the form of cohabiting marital
partners and children.
Social stigma, both historical and contemporary,
based in sexual orientation as well as race, make
it harder for this population to achieve
elements of healthy aging.
Policy Implications
How we conceptualize “open” and “hidden”
expressions of gay sexuality in older cohorts
 The relationships aging sexual minorities have
with kin
 The development of interventions to address
health inequities for this population
 Collaborations between mainstream aging
organizations and LGBT groups can help
increase awareness of their needs and improve
community services

Policy Recommendations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Increase funding for and provision of LGBT
elder programs
Provide immediate access to LGBT-based care
Provide education, tools, and legal services to
LGBT elders
Advocate for greater research on LGBT older
adults
Create a national public discussion about
LGBT aging issues
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the University
of California, Los Angeles, Center for Health
Improvement of Minority Elderly/Resource
Centers for Minority Aging Research, NIH/NIA,
under Grant #P30AG021684. I thank Taquesha
Brannon for research assistance, and Ron
Andersen for his mentorship.