
Dr. Jane Fleishman: Dad, We Really Need to Talk About Sex, Aging, LGBTQ Elders, and Why Desire Doesn’t Retire
Dr. Jane Fleishman is a sexuality educator, researcher, and author of The Stonewall Generation . After a 30-year career in medical education, Jane retired at 55 and immediately enrolled in Widener’s PhD program in human sexuality, becoming the oldest person in her cohort and discovering a passion for challenging stigma around older adults, LGBTQ elders, and sexual rights. She shares how growing up in a liberal Jewish family, coming out in her early twenties, and seeing her mother actively try to understand her identity shaped her path toward advocacy, education, and research. We get into the realities of sex and aging: why older adults are wrongly labeled as either hypersexual or completely asexual, what actually happens inside assisted living communities, and why staff need sexual-wellness policies instead of scrambling to “hide” resident relationships. Jane breaks down changes in aging bodies, why fantasy and slow sex matter, how LGBTQ elders show remarkable resilience, and how the failures of U.S. sex education leave both young and old without basic knowledge about desire, consent, and communication. She also explains how assisted living can feel like “college for older adults” and why desire never really goes away, it just evolves. Episode Highlights: Misconceptions about older adults as either oversexed or totally asexual What actually happens in assisted living communities around sex and relationships Why sexual-wellness policies are scarce—and why they matter LGBTQ elders’ resilience and surprisingly low internalized homophobia The impact of the AIDS crisis across three generations of queer people How fantasy, outercourse, and slow sex support aging bodies The staggering gaps in U.S. sex education and lack of training for medical providers What sex means in later life: feeling younger, feeling desired, and shifting from “getting” to “giving” Connect with Dr. Jane Fleishman Dr. Jane’s Website Dr. Jane’s LinkedIn Dr. Jane’s Facebook Dr. Jane’s YouTube


