To provide a model for understanding gay adult development and aging, Levinson's developmental periods are applied to the existing data on older gays. In addition, an historical lifeline for a hypothetical gay person born in 1910 is presented to illustrate the relationship between developmental data and historical events. The lack of data on older lesbians and nonadvantaged males is noted. Stereotypes of lonely, depressed, sexually frustrated aging gay men are clearly not valid for the majority of respondents studied. However, there are particular needs of older gays, e.g., support during bereavement, assistance if physically disabled, and a reduction in stigmatization.
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Douglas C. Kimmel (1978) studied this question.
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