Generational legacies and quality of life for black lesbians in their retirement years

This work investigates the experiences of African American lesbians who came into adulthood in the mid-twentieth century and were at or approaching retirement age at the time of study. It draws from sociological frameworks of aging, analyzing oral histories, group interviews, and archival materials to consider how the socio-historical contexts of inequalities based in race, gender, and sexual orientation have impacted Black lesbian women in older age. First, African Americans were subjected to labor market discrimination on several fronts and were varied in their ability to access stable employment and advanced education as young adults. Now there is a bifurcation, with some experiencing economic security and others experiencing precarity in their later years. Second, many who lived their young adulthood as lesbians did not become parents or experienced long periods of absence in child rearing. As they advance in age, they lack a crucial source of support that others with adult children can rely on. Finally, while initially fraught relationships with kin became less strained over time, lesbian sexuality was still an "open secret" for many of these women and a measure of vulnerability persists in their familial attachments. When care needs call for aid from or to extended family members, Black lesbians in older age may not receive sufficient support to mitigate experiences of social isolation or health crises, the likelihood of both increasing over the life course.