Remember, I mentioned that those who were in their teens, as I was, when homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969 have a different life experience with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. We grew up in a time when homosexuality was criminalized. That life experience at that age impacts a lifetime. It just doesn't go away.
There's a history of discrimination, exclusion and fear of stigmatization. Not all seniors wish to be open or to be included in the LGBTQ community. The effects of past discrimination can contribute to the invisibility of seniors. Many seniors have grown older convinced that it's better to keep their sexual orientation a secret. Even heterosexual men and women moving into long-term care facilities are often separated. Husbands and wives are kept in different rooms. Gay men, couples going in, are not given the same room and are not given the same courtesies of conjugal relationships that maybe heterosexual couples have. That's an issue—