Older Gay Men’s Sexual Experiences as Boys with Men: An Empirical and Narrative Analysis

Abstract

A dominant view among researchers is that boys’ sexual interactions with adult men are traumatizing. In contrast, many gay men recall childhood sexual experiences with adult males as positive. The current study tested for both of these outcomes by examining recalled boyhood sexual experiences of older gay men. Interviews were conducted in the 1970–1980s, and thus, before the public view became popular that child–adult sexual interactions must be traumatizing. Quantitative analyses suggested that gay men with boyhood sexual experiences with adult males (n = 7, mostly aged 11–16 at first experience with men aged 20s to 50s) were as well adjusted as those without these experiences (n = 10), and these experiences were usually viewed positively (71%). Narrative analyses indicated that adjustment problems in adulthood were not related to these early sexual experiences but to other factors such as parental abusiveness, societal intolerance, internalized homophobia, or social isolation.