Middle-aged Gay Men, Ageing and Ageism ― Over the Rainbow?

Is midlife for gay men the start of a slide towards the rejection, exclusion and misery associated with the spectre of the lonely old queen? Whilst exclusion is possible as gay men age, Middle Aged Gay Men, Ageing and Ageism offers a more nuanced view of gay ageing, using sociological tools to advance understanding beyond stereotypes. Based on observation and interview narratives, it examines diverse stories of gay ageing and ageism, analysing how some men use the resources of ageing to negotiate contradictions inherent to the gay scene and to challenge gay ageism. In doing so, it complicates stereotypical views that the gay scene is largely exclusionary of midlife/older men, and that they live atomized lives outside of family. It also demonstrates how men's attempts to create an authentic form of gay identity for themselves can lead to ageism towards older and younger gay men. The book concludes by defining a new cultural politics of gay ageing.

Paul Simpson is Lecturer in Applied Health and Social Care at Edge Hill University, United Kingdom. He is also Principal Investigator in and founder member of the OPUS Research Group (Older People's Understandings of Sexuality) based at Edge Hill University and the Universities of Manchester, Bradford and Queensland, Australia. Previously, he lectured in Sociology at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, for three years.