Ken Orvidas created this piece for an essay in the Science section of the New York Times this week, written by a gay geriatrician who discusses treating an old, dying, gay man who chose to go back into “the closet” once he became gravely ill.

For men and women of their generation, living with the stigma of being gay (or lesbian) may mean being judged and dying alone. He writes that the healthcare workforce should be trained to know that older gays and lesbians do exist and that just because someone is old, it doesn’t necessarily make them heterosexual.