[T]he suicide seemed to have been carried out with methodical precision. On an island in the kitchen, Mr. Bergeron had meticulously laid out his papers. There was a pile of folders with detailed instructions on top about whom to call regarding his finances and his mortgage. Across from that he placed the title page of his book, on which he also wrote his suicide note. In it he told Mr. Sackheim and Mr. Rappaport that he loved them and his family, but that he was “done.”
The Times covers the life of a 49-year old therapist in Chelsea who committed suicide around New Year's after writing “The Right Side of Forty: The Complete Guide to Happiness for Gay Men at Midlife and Beyond.” In his suicide note he called the book "a lie based on bad information".
The gay population of a generation was decimated by AIDS. As part of the first of part of a new generation for whom HIV was tamed (a bit), there are growing numbers of gay men in their forties. In the past gay suicide by men over forty was something that happened in percentages above the norm.
The newer generation does have advantages over the past ones though. There is burgeoning equality and more opportunities to create lives that exist outside of just the gay/sexual segments of one's life.
In the past it was older gay men who were patrons of the arts. They were an outsized segment of the arts audience, and art was influenced by that. As we grow older, what will the new older gay generation become? We'll be looking at that more in the days and months to come.
