SAGE Expresses Concern Over Narrow Ruling in Favor of Colorado Baker

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    Today, the Supreme Court ruled narrowly in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to provide a wedding cake to a gay couple. But the court also refused to create a license to discriminate and made it clear that civil rights laws still bar discrimination in businesses open to the public.

    While narrow, today’s ruling is nonetheless of particular concern to LGBT elders, who are already at higher risk of discrimination when accessing aging services and long-term care, the vast majority of which are provided by religiously affiliated institutions.

    “We at SAGE have always known that the fight to end discrimination against LGBT people would be fought for years to come,” said SAGE CEO Michael Adams. “While we are concerned.... Read More

                 

    LGBT Elders Know There’s Only One Side to Charlottesville

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    This article originally appeared in The Advocate magazine.

    This week, the president made the profoundly misguided and dangerous statement that there are “two sides to the story” of the hate-filled events in Charlottesville, Va.

    While it can sometimes be challenging to know what to add to the cacophony of condemnations of hatred and the president’s outrageously inadequate responses, at this moment the wisdom of those who are aged has something essential to say: There are no two sides to the story of white supremacy, neo-Nazism, and the other repugnant forms of hatred advanced by the hundreds of torchbearers who came to defend the statue of Confederate “hero” Robert E. Lee. The only side of the story that we.... Read More

                 

    SAGE Condemns the Trump Administration’s Ban on Transgender People in the Military

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    This post originally appeared on the SAGE website.

    SAGE, the nation’s largest and oldest organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender elders, will not stand by quietly as the Trump administration continues its attempts to erase the transgender community – this time from the ranks of the U.S. military, in which they have served for generations.

    A recent study found that 20 percent of transgender people have served in the military, which is double the percentage of the general population. President Trump’s outrageous statement that they can.... Read More

                 

    SAGE and Partners Launching LGBT Elder Housing in NYC

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    This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post Blog on July 11, 2016. Read the original post here.

    Recently, SAGE closed out New York City’s Pride month with the historic announcement that, after many years of effort, we have sealed deals for the Big Apple’s first two LGBT-friendly senior housing developments.  The news, which culminates decades of effort by LGBT elder advocates, was rolled out at a June 30 press conference where SAGE was joined by our partner developers, elected officials and a passionate crowd of elders from Brooklyn and the Bronx, where the two new housing communities will be built.

    The two newly-announced LGBT-welcoming housing developments – Ingersoll Senior Residences in Brooklyn and.... Read More

                 

    Connecting the Dots Creates New Leadership

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    Please Note: This Op-Ed first appeared in the Gay City News. You can find the original here.

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    After the Supreme Court’s decision for marriage equality in late June, 26 million friends of the LGBTQ community showed their support — at least on that issue —by putting a rainbow filter over their Facebook profile picture. Ultimately, the freedom to marry and #LoveWins became a “sexy” way for new allies to express their solidarity en masse. It was easy — by clicking a button the supporter and supported both could feel good basking in the glow of new equality and community. I won’t critique the value of the effort – I have to admit that when I.... Read More

                 

    Positive Momentum: Reflecting on Yesterday’s White House Conference on Aging

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    In the days and weeks following the White House Conference on Aging, we’ll be highlighting our community members’ experiences and reflections from this historic event. Today, we’re sharing Michael Adams’ take on what the WHCOA means for LGBTQ elders. This post originally appeared on the SAGE blog.

    I’m excited to report that Monday’s White House Conference on Aging included some major breakthroughs for SAGE and LGBT older people across the country. In recent months, SAGE has prepared diligently to ensure that LGBT voices would be heard at this influential conference, held every ten years. As I listened to an inspiring and impassioned statement to conference leaders from iconic LGBT aging activist Sandy Warshaw, who called for.... Read More

                 

    A Response to “It’s Never Too Late To Make a Change”

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    This blog post was written by SAGE‘s Executive Director, Michael Adams, as a response to “It’s Never Too Late To Make a Change,” a New York Times article focusing on transgender aging and originally appeared on the SAGE Blog. 

    As “It’s Never Too Late To Make a Change,” New York Times, March 8, 2015, demonstrates, more and more transgender people are making the decision to embrace their gender identity later in life. As the New York Times points out, the pull to live your life as who you truly are runs deep at every stage of life. The stories shared by the Times.... Read More