adult life course and homosexual identity in midlife gay men, The

The meaning of homosexual identity as shaped by the adult life course is poorly described in the lives of gay men. In particular, the transition from young adulthood to middle age raises questions of how homosexual identity is redefined as gay men alter their participation in gay sexual culture, experience change in sexual desire and activity, and revise broader psychosocial identity as influenced by psychological and socialization processes related to aging. In addition, the HIV epidemic and historical change in social tolerance of homosexuality have shaped the experience of sexual identity among the generation of currently middle-aged gay men in the United States. A perspective that integrates sociocultural, historical, and psychosocial factors is thus needed to understand the subjective meaning of homosexual identity as it is experienced in midlife. In this paper I have described exploratory research on the meaning of homosexual identity in the life trajectories of middle-aged men. Such meanings reflect available social and cultural pathways for change in midlife homosexual identity, as well as individual psychological attributes and idiosyncrasies of life history. These findings have heuristic value in further refinement of models of homosexual identity maintenance and support a more inclusive view of the life course that considers the effects of sexual orientation on adult identity.

Key Words: homosexual identity, male homosexuality, middle age.

In considering homosexual identity from a life course perspective that focuses on the transition from young adulthood to middle age, the interplay between psychological and socialization processes related to aging, on the one hand, and psychosocial and cultural factors that shape homosexual identity, on the other, emerge as an important point of exploration. To date, descriptions of homosexual identity and the adult life course are not well integrated, despite large numbers of self-identifled gay men and women traversing adulthood in Western societies. Thus, little is known about how ongoing life experience and evolving psychosocial identity affect self-representations of homosexual identity in midlife adults, or conversely, how being homosexual affects life experience and personal narratives of such experience throughout adulthood (Stein, 1993; Troiden, 1984).

My intent in this paper is twofold: first, to review how the field of midlife development provides a background for understanding the interrelationship between homosexual identity and psychosocial identity as they are revised over the course of individual lives. I will review the literature describing change in self-perceptions, social roles, and sexuality associated with middle age and explore the applicability of this literature to the lives of gay men. Secondly, I will examine how growing older shapes the meaning of homosexual identity and what implications this may hold for models of homosexual identity formation and maintenance. This focus is mindful of an observation made by Troiden (1984) in which he noted "The degree to which most homosexuals perceive the homosexual identity as central, desirable, significant, or permanent in most settings throughout the life span is an empirical question" (p. 106). In further elaboration of this question, I will consider the meaning as well as degree of these dimensions of homosexual identity.

This paper takes a phenomenological approach to understanding transitions in homosexual identity that is based on phenomenological perspectives on change in midlife psychosocial identity among adults in the general population (Ryff, 1984). In brief, a phenomenological approach toward understanding midlife development emphasizes the meaning of experience for the individual, self-representations of change or stability as adults undergo life transitions, and the connection of experience to the everyday world in the context of adults' lives (see Ryff, 1985, for a review of phenomenological approaches to the study of adult development). In addition, because a phenomenological approach is well suited to the exploration of subjective experience and intrapsychic worlds, it is particularly advantageous in studying middle age, a time of heightened introspection and interiority (Neugarten, 1968). A phenomenological perspective, however, is not without limitations. These include the heightened possibility of investigator interpretative bias, reliance on the verbal abilities of target populations when qualitative methods are employed, and the ability of this approach to describe but not explain the phenomena of interest (Ryff, 1985).

In discussing homosexuality and midlife, the population of interest to this paper is men who are self-identified as gay. Although homosexuality can be defined by overlapping criteria of behavior, desire, attraction, or self-identification (Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, & Michaels, 1994), the latter criterion is most relevant to this paper, given my interest in how individuals attach meaning to homosexual identity throughout adulthood. In this paper, I define homosexual identity as a social construct that is strongly shaped by cultural factors but interpreted by individuals reflecting idiosyncrasies of personal history and psychological attributes (Herdt, 1997b). Using criteria developed by Cass (1984), homosexual identity is further defined as a perceived (as opposed to presented) identity, and as an identity inclusive of, but not restricted to, sexual identity. I will focus on men who are self-identified as gay since adolescence or early adulthood in order to better describe a longitudinal view of homosexual identity maintenance; gay men who "come out" in middle age are likely to have different developmental trajectories characterized by longer periods of heterosexuality or bisexuality and psychosocial identities influenced by marital or parental roles.