by wilfran nicols

THE

OLDER

HOMOSEXUAL

Fear of a possible lonely old age has tortured many a young person who has discovered his emotional desires to be toward those of his or her own

sex.

Much self-imposed unhappiness among today's youth-whatever the sexual inclination-stems from following the crowd's opinion, going along with current fads of idol-worship, bizarre haircuts or clothes and so on, or pseudo-philosophical opinions garnered from the digest magazines. Movies and television have given them vicarious experiences or situations which many have found impossible to duplicate in actual life. With such an unpractical basis, it is no wonder many express fear of the future, fears which could lead into alcoholism, even into suicide.

While it may be normal for the early adolescent to find intense excitement in frequent sexual play, the headiness of alcohol, the apparent camaraderie of the public bar and spectator sports-while youth must navigate its initiation period into maturity, it is certainly unwise in early adulthood to permit juvenile interests to remain dominant. Maturity demands responsibility and the homosexual especially should not shirk it.

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