SAGE Blog

New Data Collection Guide Now Available

This a guest post by Hilary Meyer, Director of the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.

Aging services and healthcare providers rely on client data to inform program and service delivery as well as to guide optimal individual service and treatment. However, from the federal to local levels, the identities of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults are rarely included in population-level research studies, service intake forms or client notes. This lack of data collection across the spectrum of aging policy and programs means that providers often lack the information they need to better understand and serve LGBT elders—and if they want this information, they must collect it themselves.

SAGE Brings LGBT Aging to the 2013 Aging in America Conference

Today’s post is from Serena Worthington, Director of Community Advocacy and Capacity-Building. Follow her on Twitter.

One of my favorite conferences of the year, the American Society on Aging’s 2013 Aging in America Conference, starts tomorrow in my home city—Chicago! Aging in America—or as it is often casually referred to by attendees, ASA—is the nation’s largest aging conference. According to their Facebook page (get on over and friend them!) “over 3,000 professionals in the fields of aging, health care and education will gather to hear from experts, collaborate with colleagues, and share best practices and innovations.”

The conference runs from March 12-16, and this year, SAGE staff are involved in 14 of the more than 41 workshops and poster sessions related to LGBT issues, HIV and aging, and sexuality. Our friends at ASA put together a handy-dandy guide, LGBT, Sexuality, and HIV/AIDS and Aging Sessions, to all things LGBT at the conference. It’s awesome!

Helena Bushong: "I am a 60-Year-Old Trans Female Living with HIV" (Women's History Month Feature)

 

Helena Bushong

March is Women’s History Month and in honor, the SAGE Blog will feature relevant LGBT aging stories every Friday. The first post of the series is a guest blog post by Helena Bushong, a 60-year-old trans woman who lives with HIV. This post originally appeared on the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging’s website.

 

My name is Helena and I am a 60-year-old transgender female living with HIV. I am not a victim. An HIV/AIDS diagnosis is NOT a death sentence, but is similar to living with breast cancer or diabetes, which through some lifestyle changes, are manageable diseases.

I was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS in 2002, and was told I would not live more than six months, and at best, a year. Along with my doctors, I believe that I was a "late tester," meaning because I was diagnosed with AIDS—a late stage infection—and not HIV, I likely contracted HIV 15 to 20 years before showing any sign or symptoms. Because people can carry HIV/AIDS asymptomatically, it is important to be tested on a regular basis to avoid a late test and spreading the disease.

The SAGE Center: addressing nutritional challenges of older LGBT New Yorkers

Sarah Savino,The SAGE Center Program Manager

The following is a guest post by Sarah Savino, The SAGE Center Program Manager and Al Rosenberg, The SAGE Center Food Service Coordinator. This article was originally published by The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger  for their Rooftops newsletter.

One of the best times of day at The SAGE Center, the nation’s first full-time senior center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, is dinner time. Our Great Room fills up each weeknight with laughter and conversation from the LGBT older people who visit our center, as staff and volunteers set up the evening’s meal.

Housed in a beautifully renovated, loft-like space with views over New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, The SAGE Center is a wonderful space for LGBT older people to gather. The early dinner is at the core of The SAGE Center Healthy Food Program, our nutritional plan designed to meet the specific needs of LGBT elders. The SAGE Center, which began serving meals in January 2012, offers an outstanding program of classes and events for a community with a range of needs – from those seeking fun and companionship in a culturally diverse setting, to those who face severe economic and nutritional challenges.  The SAGE Center Healthy Food Program is designed to welcome them all.

Miami Invests in LGBT Elders: SAGE Expands Our Family of Donors

On February 13, more than 50 people attended our Investors Circle event in Miami to learn about SAGE’s efforts to improve the lives of LGBT older adults. The event was held at the beautiful Miami Beach home of one of our dearest supporters and National Leadership Council members, Jim Pepper. By the end of the night, many attendees had contributed generous gifts to support our work. 

The SAGE Center Celebrates its First Anniversary

Charles O’Connell is currently an intern in Marketing and Communications at SAGE. He wrote this piece in honor of the one-year anniversary of the opening of The SAGE Center.

It’s hard to believe, but on March 1^st, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the grand opening of The SAGE Center. The past year has definitely flown by; it’s been a whirlwind of activity for staff and participants alike. When we opened a year ago – as the nation's first full-time, innovative center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older people – we were pretty confident of our future success and are now pleased to report…we were right. Today we have more than 1000 registered participants and a full calendar of events related to arts and culture, fitness, food and nutrition, health and wellness, and lifelong education for LGBT elders.

Richard Burnside & Charles Fatone have dinner at The SAGE Center between activities.
 

SAGE Proudly Supports Supreme Court DOMA Challenge

By Michael Adams, Executive Director of SAGE

 

Me and Edie Windsor at New York City's 2012 Pride Parade.

Today, we move one step closer to what is sure to be a momentous event in American history: on March 27, the Supreme Court will hear the case of United States v. Windsor, a powerful legal challenge to the notorious Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). More specifically, the Windsor lawsuit challenges Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples even though they  are already legally married under state law. SAGE is among more than 40 groups that today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Edie Windsor’s case; we’re joined in our brief by the American Society on Aging, National Hispanic Council on Aging, National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, National Senior Citizens Law Center, and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center.

SAGE has been proud to support Edie during every step of her challenge to DOMA. Some background: Edie and her spouse Thea Spyer were a committed couple who got engaged in 1967 and were finally able to legally marry 40 years later. (If you’re a Netflix member, you can watch a very moving documentary about their life together.) When Thea passed away after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, Edie was forced to pay a large estate tax that she would not have had to pay had she been married to a man. Not willing to remain silent about this gross injustice, Edie sued the federal government for failing to recognize her marriage. On October 18, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan sided with Edie, ruling that DOMA unconstitutionally discriminates against married same-sex couples. Shortly thereafter, on December 7, the Supreme Court announced that it would take and decide Edie’s case.