Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and same-gender-loving (LGBTQ+) older adults have unique needs based on the experiences related to LGBTQ+ aging across the life course. LGBTQ+ older adults encompass a large and heterogenous group that spans several generations and cohorts of life experiences: The Silent Generation, the Invisible Generation, the Pride Generation, and the AIDS Generation. The Invisible Generation includes LGBTQ+ older adults who came of age during the Great Depression. Many LGBTQ+ older adults of the Invisible Generation fought during World War II. They remained largely invisible during this time. The Silent Generation includes LGBTQ+ older adults who came of age during McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare of the 1950s. During this time, LGBTQ+ individuals were heavily criminalized and penalized in employment, housing, and social spaces for their sexual orientations, gender identity, and gender expression. Desegregation was slowly permeating institutions after Brown vs. Board of Education; however, de facto segregation also remained. And many places throughout the United States vigorously fought racial integration in schools, clubs, and spaces like bars that provided public spaces where LGBTQ+ individuals could meet. The Pride Generation came of age during an era of tremendous social change. Although some LGBTQ+ leaders like Bayard Rustin held prominent roles in the Civil Rights Movement, most LGBTQ+ individuals were excluded in one way or another because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or the intersection of these positionalities. // (2020)
