Introduction to "housing, care and support for older lesbians, gay, bisexual and trans* people" This special issue builds upon the previous special issue in Quality in Ageing and Older Adults (Willis et al., 2016) which highlighted many gaps in knowledge about the care/housing issues, needs and concerns of older lesbian gay, bisexual and/or trans*[1] (LGBT*) people. In this second, related, special issue, we develop this "conversation" further by showcasing recent cutting-edge research in the

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... eld of older LGBT* housing, care and support. This is both a pressing and highly topical concern. It was addressed at several symposia at the British Society of Gerontology's annual conference in 2016, at several workshops run by Stonewall Housing in 2015/2016, in a review Stonewall Housing also commissioned (Shelley, 2016) and in a document produced by the Chartered Institute of Housing (2011). There are two central issues: first, a lack of LGBT*-"friendly" or inclusive mainstream older age housing, care and support; second, a lack of specialist housing, care and support services dedicated to either older LGBT* people collectively, or to particular individuals/groups within the "LGBT*" umbrella. There are, at the time of writing, no such services in the UK, only a handful in Europe, by contrast with an ever-expanding number in the USA (Ross, 2016) . At first sight, it might seem odd to be singling out older LGBT* people, given the increasing legal recognitions and protections, and the growing acceptance and inclusion of LGBT* people in many parts of the world. However, a growing body of research, both in the UK and internationally, would suggest that mainstream older age housing, care and support providers remain ill-prepared to meet the needs of older LGBT* people (Carr and Ross, 2013;