FORUM

A CONVERSATION WITH THREE MIDDLE-AGED GAYS

"Nobody loves you when you're old and gay" is an oft quoted verse of grafitti from the hallowed hands of New York's street philosophers. To grow old in a society that idealizes youth is hard indeed, or so it is said. In order to validate: or dispel this assumption, I held three separate interviews with three middle-aged gays of different social and economic backgrounds. Tom, 40, is a professor at one of the leading universities in in Northeastern Ohio; Joy, 43, a Lesbian industrial worker from Greater Cleveland; and Tim, 44, is employed by one of the city's prominent rehabilitation services. Together the three present a wide range of attitudes on themselves and the gay subculture. The results are both interesting and enlightening:

JSN: There is a stereotype within our society that portrays older gays as being generally more lonely and desolate than their younger brothers and sisters. Is this true for you?

TOM: I really have not given much thought to the aging process largely because I don't separate my gay life from the other facets of my existence. I'm as happy now as I've ever been, and so far as my sexual behaviour is concerned, I'm still being propositioned.

are.

JOY I myself am not lonely, but some of my friends They're in a rut, follow a daily routine and live in their own worlds. I think it's because they don't expand themselves and thus cut themselves and thus cut themselves off from other people. TIM: I'm not any lonelier than the next person. I think loneliness is a conscious isolation of oneself motivated by fear of contact or fear of rejection. Anyone who deliberately shuts himself off will be lonely.

JSN: Do you cruise men or women your own age? TOM: Generally, I've always preferred people older than myself. Most likely, this will continue to be true. When I cruise people, I'm not so concerned with their age as I am in the qualities they possess. ie, an air of maturity.

2 p.m.

EVERY SUNDAY

STAN ROBERTS

COORDINATOR

3300 m

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