ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews what is known about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) older adults who reside in rural regions of the United States. Many of present day's LGBTQ older adults were teenagers or young adults prior to the gay liberation movement of the 1970s. Being LGBTQ at this time also meant being labeled as mentally ill. Lee and Quam performed a secondary analysis of LGBTQ baby boomers to examine geographic differences among respondents. They found that urban and rural respondents differed with respect to income, levels of “outness,” and self-reported LGBTQ identity; rural respondents indicated, on average, lower levels on all three variables. Best practices for working with LGBTQ older adults in nonmetropolitan regions include: creating LGBTQ-affirmative health and social service settings through printed material, intake forms, and office decor; assisting clients to find existing LGBTQ networks and working to create new opportunities for social connections; and so on.
