“Sexual Minority Stress” Damaging To Older Gay Men

A new study being published in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that sexual minority stress—carrying the stigma attached to homosexuality—negatively impacts the mental health of gay men aged 44-75.

Part of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, a massive study of the epidemic in the United States, the survey was based on questionnaires answered by 200 gay men, both  HIV+ and HIV-, in 2009 and 2010.
It also reported that losing loved ones to AIDS was another factor against general well-being. As Pink News reports:

Having a same-sex domestic partner or same-sex spouse boosted the emotional health of the studied men, but having a same-sex legal spouse appeared to be the most beneficial relationship arrangement.
Lead author Richard G. Wight of the Williams Institute at UCLA: “This study shines a light on the mental health of a generation of gay men who survived the early years of the AIDS crisis and came of age on the heels of the gay rights movement.