At the New Jewish Home, a retirement community with affordable apartments in separate locations in the Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester, a male resident has won the right to wear the silky nightgowns he favors, and another, once denied the privilege of painting his fingernails, is being supplied with nail polish and help applying it.
Neither achievement is what Audrey Weiner, the chief executive of the New Jewish Home, would call earth-shattering. But they would not have happened 10 years ago, never mind a few decades ago, she said.
These changes, Ms. Weiner added, represent real progress in what she described as a sad situation for older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including early pioneers in the pride movement who are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
“It’s become abundantly clear that there are a lot of elders who feel they have to go back in the closet when they enter nursing homes or any care facility,” Ms. Weiner said.