Kicking off Pride by Celebrating SAGE’s 40 Fierce Years

40 Years of Fighting for LGBT Elders Since 1978, SAGE has worked tirelessly on behalf of LGBT older people and, with the start of Pride month, we are beginning our 40th anniversary celebration! What better way to celebrate 40 Fierce Years than with the launch of a new website, a commemorative anniversary edition of SAGEMatters magazine, a match campaign supported by the Edie Windsor Challenge Fund, and special events throughout the year? “As we commemorate SAGE’s 40 years, we celebrate our important wins—and keep our eye toward the future,” said SAGE CEO Michael Adams. “In the face of renewed ignorance, bigotry, and bankrupt leadership in Washington, D.C., we must continue our work with dogged determination until all LGBT elders are treated with dignity and respect.” Learn more about our 40th anniversary, and check out SAGE’s new website.

As part of our trailblazing work in 2017, we are proud to announce our “Welcome to Pride” initiative. Created by SAGE with the generous support of AARP, Welcome to Pride is a partnership among SAGE, Centerlink, Heritage of Pride, InterPride, and the Center for Black Equity – all aiming to make Pride celebrations places where everyone, including older members of our community, can celebrate and are welcome. Organizations that wish to publicly affirm their commitment to maintaining or increasing the age-friendliness of their events are encouraged to take our Age-Friendly Pride Pledge.

Taking a Stand Against Religious-Based Discrimination Last week’s Supreme Court ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case reminds us how critical it is that SAGE continues its fight against continued attempts to create a religious license to discriminate. LGBT elders already face widespread discrimination in housing, services, and long-term care. Sanctioning religious-based discrimination when 85 percent of nonprofit continuing-care retirement communities are religiously affiliated would have a devastating impact on LGBT older people. That's why SAGE launched Care Can’t Wait — to enlist people and faith leaders to stand with LGBT elders whose care and livelihoods would be threatened by a license to discriminate. We’re building support to fight back, but we need your help. So far, nearly 20,000 people have signed our pledge to care for LGBT elders, and all LGBT people. If you haven’t yet, be sure to add your name and sign the pledge.

Honoring LGBT Leaders at the Pines On Saturday, June 2, members of the Fire Island Pines community gathered for the 26th Annual SAGE Pines Celebration. This year's honorees included Ariadne Villarreal, recipient of our Doris Taussig Award for Community Service, and Frank Liberto and Allan Baum, recipients of our SAGE Pines Leadership Award. See photos.

Mark Your Calendars!

SAGE & Friends Harlem Thursday, June 21, 2018 | Harlem, New York NYC Pride March Sunday, June 24, 2018 | The SAGE contingent will gather on 17th street between 7th and 8th avenues Hamptons Tea Dance Saturday, July 14, 2018 | Water Mill, NY See all SAGE events »