This study examines the full range of family care responsibilities among lesbians and gay men, including caring for children and adults with an illness or disability. Thirty-two percent of the gay men and lesbians in this study were providing some type of caregiving assistance. Lesbians, compared with gay men, were significantly more likely to be caring for children and elderly people, whereas gay men were more likely to be assisting working-age adults with an illness or disability. After controlling for the sociodemographic characteristics of the caregivers, having child care responsibilities was a significant predictor of not being openly identified as gay or lesbian, but child care and adult care responsibilities were not significant predictors of degree of support received from biological family members or of harassment experienced. These findings have implications for the development of human services practices and policies that are responsive to the unique needs of lesbians and gay men and their families.
Interviews with eighty-three adults aged thirty-five to sixty who had lost a parent one to five years previously found that 60 percent continued to experience emotional reactions and 44 percent continued to experience somatic reactions to the death. The majority also reported changes in their sense of maturity, personal priorities, work and/or career objectives, feelings about their own mortality, and the importance and nature of various social relationships. These impacts generally corresponded to developmentally significant midlife themes of autonomy, personal freedom, and responsibility.
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