People throughout the world have multiple and intersection identities. Other attributes include racial and gender identities, sexual orientation or gender identity, belief systems, and aging. In this chapter, we highlighted a seemingly obvious, yet often ignored, reality; elderly lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender persons are made up of a complex and fluid combination of social identities that have been influenced by their life experiences, which continue to reconfigure as they age (Abes et al. 2007; Azmitia 2014; McCall 2005). The presence of ageism, sexism, racism, ethnocentrism, classism, and heterosexism, among other sources of discrimination, has contributed to myriad inequities in the lives of LGBT elders. The consequences of those past experiences, as well as current ones, are manifested on a daily basis (Meyer 1995). As has already been documented in a number of studies, we anticipate that these consequences will continue to be manifested in differences in disease rates, life chances and opportunities, and overall quality of life across the life course. Although we are unlikely to eliminate these sources of inequity any time soon, our awareness of them should be a catalyst for change (Crisp et al. 2008; Van Den Bergh and Crisp 2004).

Intersectionality as a conceptual framework for understanding the complex identities of LGBT elders offers a useful heuristic tool with which to build a bridge between the processes of conceptualization and program development in the helping professions. Intersectionality invites us to consider not only the categories associated with different aspects of identity but also the impact associated with privileges and oppressions that correspond with those categories (Garry 2011). As a body of knowledge, extant scholarship on intersectionality reflects the influence of many disciplines. As research moves forward with the guidance of multidisciplinary teams, Bowleg (2008) argues that we will garner the benefits of creative approaches to conceptualization, measurement and analyses that better capture the complex and fluid model of social identity that is more representative LGBT lives. For example, while research is constrained by our ability to develop measures that are reliable and valid indicators of the aspects of identity we wish to consider, increasingly sophisticated statistical methods offer techniques for simultaneously considering these factors in complex ways more closely aligned with human experience (Stirratt et al. 2007). As we increase our ability to capture evidence of the intersectionality of identity , sophisticated research will offer greater insight into how we might best develop programs that avoid the compartmentalization of identity components in favor of programs that holistically embrace the complexity of LGBT elders’ identities (Bowleg 2008; Weber and Parra-Medina 2003). Notably, Stirratt et al. (2007) acknowledge that while statistical analysis allows us to model a multidimensional view of the intersectionality of identities, we are still challenged to capture the contextual variation that contributes to the fluidity of identities (Deaux and Martin 2003; Stirratt et al. 2007). Environments that construct and nurture norms and values that support hierarchical views of race , ethnicity, age , sex, and sexuality , among other targets for differential treatment, contribute to the development and maintenance of social identity. Consequently, we have further evidence of the critical role that advocacy for social change can play in the elder LGBT persons lives.