I concur with what everyone (except the original poster) has said. To paraphrase: Older gay men are more comfortable with themselves, more likely to be sexually adventurous, and less likely to spend time worrying about what other men think about our habits, likes, dislikes, etc. than our younger ones.
If anything, it's the twinks and post-twinks that seem to have the most issues about what is hot and what is not, which is probably why they take such umbrage to anyone older than they are enjoying their life! I think this is something that we all probably went through when we were younger...thank god we grow up!
As for the bareback activity, the HIV infection rate has vastly increased and it's NOT among the mature guys...it's coming from the young ones. Sad really, that all of the work done by us oldies is being undone so quickly by those who are so much smarter and sexier!!!!