Mr. Meecham, the artistic director of the performance company All the Queens Men, said the event was a gift to those who had paved the way. The ball, he said, was also an effort to spotlight an issue rarely discussed: the tendency of L.G.B.T. people to hide that part of their identities when they enter nursing homes or receive at-home care.

“We need to be thinking about what equality means, beyond just marriage equality,” Mr. Meecham said.

Many older L.G.B.T. Australians have endured decades of discrimination, sexual and physical violence, and forced medical or psychological treatment. Some still have criminal records for homosexuality. (Australia’s final laws against sodomy were repealed in 1997.)

Older gay and transgender people are used to hiding their bodily or sexual differences to protect themselves, said Dr. Catherine Barrett, an elder care researcher and activist. For some older gays, she said, their last experience with the health system may have been a forced visit to an institution decades ago. Those experiences can make it hard for them to feel safe, she said.