Thus: The list of specific standards by which it is prohibited to discriminate, according to Article 1(1) of the American Convention, is neither exhaustive nor limiting but rather merely declarative. Conversely, the wording of this article leaves the standards open by including the phrase “other social condition” to the incorporation of other categories that were not explicitly indicated. The phrase “any other social condition” of Article 1(1) of the Convention should, therefore, be interpreted by the Court under the perspective of the option most favorable to the person and to the evolution of the fundamental rights in contemporary international law. 11 10. Thus, the Court, through its case law, has been identifying other categories and groups of special protection by use of the phrase “any other social condition,” such as in the case of LGBTI persons (who find protection under the categories of “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” or the “expression of gender”), disabled persons (protected under the category of disabled) and, recently, older persons (protected by age). 11. Age as a protected category, as we have seen, is not expressly contemplated in Article 1(1). However, since 2003 the Court has included “age” among the categories that could be included within the scope of Article 1(1). 12 12. Prior to 2018, the use “of age” as a category of special protection was directed (although not expressly in the Court’s decisions) toward those under 18 years of age; in other words, children and adolescents. Age, therefore, was not also seen as a category applicable to persons older than 60 years. 13 13. This infrequent use of “age” as a category of special protection for older persons was inserted into a context where there was no specific development or focus that protected this group of persons. This changed substantially when, for example, the United Nations appointed the first Independent Expert on the rights of older persons (2014) 14 and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights created The Unit on the Rights of Older Persons (2017), which later became the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Older Persons (2019) 15. B. The slow development of differentiated standards for older persons: the crystallization of the “right to a preferential treatment” 14. As I expressed in Muelle Flores, two instruments have given visibility to the differentiated rights of older persons: 16 the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons of 2016. 17 52. Cf. The Right to Information on Consular Assistance in the Framework of the Guarantees of Due Process of Law. Advisory Opinion OC-16/99 of October 1, 1999. Series A No. 16, para. 101. 12 Cf. Juridical Condition and Rights of the Undocumented Migrants. Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 of September 17, 2003. Series A No. 18, para. 101. 13 For the effects of Article 2 of the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons, an “older person” is one 60 years of age or older, except where the domestic legislation has determined a minimum age that is lesser or greater, provided that it is not over 65 years. This concept includes, among others, elderly persons. 14 Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/SP/Issues/OlderPersons/IE/Pages/RosaKornfeldMatte.aspx . 15 Available at: http://www.oas.org/es/CIDH/jsForm/?File=/es/cidh/r/PM/default.asp 16 Although not differentially, the revised European Social Charter contemplate a protection for elderly persons in its Article 23. 17 In the African System of Human Rights, Article 18(4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides for a special protection of older persons. Also worthy of mention in the African System, Article 22 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Human Rights of Women in Africa. That article states: Special Protection of the Older Woman. The States Parties undertake to: (a) Special Protection for African 11 3