Why Are Gay Men Over 50 so Lonely? (And 5 Steps to Overcome Loneliness)

Comments · 242

• ZE

  @zeroling7690 · 9 months ago

  I'm physically disabled, and pushing 40 . I've been treated like the black plague. So much for inclusion 😂😂

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• 2G

  @2godless · 9 months ago

  Im gay and over 50 and have been alone all my life. I don’t feel lonely at all. Pretty happy. I guess I’m just built that way.

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• US

  @user-az785khvy · 9 months ago (edited)

  Was lonelier being part of the community. Left it at 29 after 9 years of trying to find our place and chose celibacy 25 years ago. Now we walk a Spiritual Monastic Path and we are all alone and never lonely. Helps that we are an introvert and don't need human connection to survive and thrive. 6 digit income, a home, and a loving cat. We're happy.

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• BR

  @brentbraniff · 9 months ago

  Sadly, I live in an area that doesn't have a solid gay community.  The gay community that is here is pretty much populated with young people that really don't want to have older guys around.  Isolation is something that you have to just accept here, I think.  I would love to have a connection with a gay community but it just doesn't seem possible.  And as far as just going out to be with people in general it is pretty much a requirement that you drink, which I don't.

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• PA

  @PatrickHamilton-j2u · 9 months ago (edited)

  I'm 66 and single. My last long term relationship, I felt more lonely in the relationship than out of it. I enjoy my own company, and at this point in my life, I am too set in my ways to change and I'm sure it would be the same for a prospective partner. I am fortunate to have a few good friends, and a few family members that care about me. Life is actually pretty good. Happy?.....I'd say content is a better word, which is not a bad place to be. I suspect living with HIV for 35 plus years makes me feel happy just to be here. So many of my peers, friends and acquaintances didn't have that privilege. My advice to older Gay men who are perhaps feeling lonely is to volunteer......helping other humans/animals/the environment is the best cure for loneliness I know.

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• US

  @user-s8m1w · 9 months ago

  Being alone and being lonely aren’t the same thing

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• LE

  @Leo-uhhuh · 8 months ago

  Many of us suffered homophobic abuse leaving us with mental health conditions, I haven't found the gay community particularly empathetic but also mental health issues complicates a lot of connection and relationship issues.

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• AN

  @andrewgarfield9898 · 8 months ago

  Only Gay men over 50 ??? I’m only 26 and I’ve been lonely asf my whole damn life

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• GG

  @GG-hu9dn · 8 months ago (edited)

  Better to.be alone than around people you can't like?! I love the universe and it loves me back ❤💫✨️💥

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• BI

  @billywalkerjr.9753 · 9 months ago

  Thank you for including your observations about the lingering impact of the AIDS crisis. I never recovered from the conviction that intimacy equals not only death but a lingering, horrifying carnival of pain and putridity. Due to various circumstances (unrelated to nosophobia), I am not in a position to benefit from your valuable tips. I believe, however, that other viewers will be able to apply the information you have shared and establish pathways toward the connections they crave.

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• E.

  @e.s.9080 · 9 months ago

  Probably because some of us are currently serving as a fulltime caregiver to an aged and declining parent, while holding down a fulltime paying job and struggling every inch of the way to make both work as best possible.  Don't need compounding drama,  I'd settle for a friend w/benefits type of thing than a full blown relationship that will just suffer under the strain  and eventually end because one has way too much going on to devote to the full attention requred to maintain one.

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• BL

  @BladeDecker-j7i · 8 months ago

  It is very difficult making friends in today’s digital age. I am alone on my weekends, and sometimes the only person I talk to is the clerk at the grocery store when I checkout. I sometimes shop at Goodwill for cookbooks. Occasionally I’ll try to chat someone in the book area but they look terrified and walk away. I will try to volunteer somewhere just to get out of my house on the weekends. Aging sucks in the gay community.

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