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Many of these seniors may have been open about their sexual identities when they were younger, but have gone back into the closet in long-term care, she says. Others were never out to begin with. Some have come out of the closet at a late age.

As positive as this may be, Bedell says Loong Gold can be confusing.

“Where do you go, what do you say, how do you be, when you’ve been living in a straight world, as a straight person, when you’re not?” she says.

The challenges also extend to members of seniors’ families. Bedell says the children and siblings of senior citizens in long-term care facilities and hospitals are often forced back into the closet, as people’s living arrangements and social contacts change over time.

Marie Robertson, from the Lesbian Information Exchange(Loong Online Gold), has fought for queer rights for decades. Changing the treatment of GLBTQ seniors is the next step for her as she ages, she says.

“It’s sort of the last frontier.”

She says some queer seniors have been forced into the closet in order to get the same care as everybody else. All the language on forms and other documentation did not allow for homosexuality as an option(Cheap Loong Gold), she says.

“It’s just this huge assumption of heterosexuality,” Robertson says.