Recreational Benefits and Constraints of Homosexual Elders in Canada Recreation and leisure activities are integral parts of a person’s day-to-day life. For the purposes of this paper, recreation and leisure will be defined as something that a person chooses to do when they are not working; that contributes positively to their overall quality of life; that contributes positively to the quality of society and the surrounding people; that make a person feel confident and allow those around them to have positive experiences; and that improve ones physical health. Recreation and leisure cannot be measured; it is simply what makes a person feel enriched. This paper will analyze the recreational activities of homosexual elderly people in …show more content…

They will be proud of their physical bodies and be proud of them which will make them happier people overall. Homosexual elders not only had physical issues growing up, but they also struggled socially. Unfortunately, most gay and lesbian elders today were never able to reveal their true identities as they were growing up. These years are the most important in any person’s life as they are when you discover who you are and learn how to express yourself as an individual. The lifestyle that now-elderly homosexual people faced growing up was anything but recreational (in relation to the previously stated definition of recreation and leisure). In fact, a study done by D’Augelli and Grossman (2002) found that “the earlier these [gay and lesbian] adults came to terms with their sexual orientation by self-identification and by disclosure to others, the more victimization they recollected,” where victimization refers to verbal abuse, threats of violence, and actual physical violence. When the elderly of Canadian society were young, they were unable to explore and discover who they are as individuals. Fear of harassment kept them from making friends and becoming close with unaccepting family members. Thus, gay and lesbian seniors are not very socially enriched. It would be beneficial for them to take advantage of the gay liberation movement outcome – which marks the time the heterosexual