The Happiness Code

It has been more than 50 years since the Stonewall riots – a tipping point in LGBTQIA2S+ (LGBTQ+ for short) history. A 20-year partygoer that night at the Stonewall Inn, when it was raided by New York City police, would now be in their 70s.   

The LGBTQ+ civil rights movement catalyzed by Stonewall has ushered in a new era of visibility, rights, and freedoms for many LGBTQ+ individuals. Many have come out of the closet and come together under the rainbow flag to create a shared culture.   

Still, their lives have been fraught with adversity, risk, and loss. Generations of LGBTQ+ individuals have faced discrimination, marginalization, and social exclusion. Some were considered mentally ill or criminal because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Others were rendered invisible, the fear of stigma and discrimination preventing them from self-identifying or revealing their identities. They have also faced rejection by family members and colleagues, and tremendous loss of loved ones during the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  

Despite these hardships, many LGBTQ+ elders today say they are happy and aging successfully.   

Researchers are taking note and asking, what is their secret? How have LGBTQ+ elders overcome a lifetime of stress related to homophobia and/or transphobia, and how are they coping with the intersections of genderism, ageism, and other forms of discrimination? What can younger people and marginalized individuals learn from older LGBTQ+ adults about resilience?

"This is a population that's overcome incredible obstacles to achieve greater and greater integration into the mainstream fabric of society in just a few short years," says Alex Keuroghlian, Director of the National LGBT Health Education Center at The Fenway Institute and psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.  

"I think if younger people feel connected to the tremendous resilience of older LGBTQI+ adults, that can be tremendously empowering for them," he says.

Mentoring itself is also a resilience strategy. Research has shown that it contributes to positive well-being later in life, especially in LGBTQ+ adults, possibly by helping them channel their experiences of stigma and discrimination and build meaningful relationships.  

Before the pandemic, SAGE, a not-for-profit organization representing LGBTQ+ elders in the United States, ran speed-mentoring events in several cities that connected LGBTQ+ adults across generations.   

Keuroghlian says that kind of face-to-face intergenerational contact is valuable. Various support groups at The Fenway Institute, where the LGBTQI+ Aging Project is based, are helping to connect people in need of support.  

"There's value on both sides. For older people, it helps them remember that they're still vital and relevant, and there's a great joy in mentoring younger LGBTQ plus people and sharing all the hard-earned lessons that one has had. Younger people learn an incredible amount and see where they came from, and don't for granted the relative increase in freedom and opportunity that exists today," he says.