SAGE Matters

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

According to the National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging, it is estimated that there are over 3 million LGBTQ seniors in the U.S., with that number doubling by 2030. We who are queer elders have special needs that others may not share. First among the groups created to serve our seniors is SAGE – Senior Action in a Gay Environment – founded in 1978 to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer older adults. Many of us who live in Florida are members of SAGE of South Florida (sagewebsite.org). Founded in 1994, SAGE of South Florida “enriches the lives of the LGBT senior community through membership inclusive of age, gender, race, nationality, and religion. We accomplish this by sponsoring social alternatives, providing personal interaction, and offering educational opportunities to deal with the special needs of aging, and promoting contact with isolated and homebound persons in our community. SAGE is also an advocate for the concerns and needs of the senior LGBT community at large, providing referral information to community resources and promoting inter-generational communication in the LGBT community.”

Now 31 years young, SAGE of South Florida made history once again when it held its 31^st Annual Meeting on March 22. Patrick S. Vida, who served as president for eight notable years, did not seek re-election. Vida’s successor, selected by the Board, is Lisa Levinson Peters, no stranger to SAGE or to the lives of queer seniors. Peters is one of many remarkable advocates-allies, mostly women, who are active and supportive members of our community. Outside of SAGE, she is best known as the Director of Senior Services at SunServe (sunserve.org), a social organization that serves the needs of South Florida’s LGTQ community. She ran SunServe’s Noble A. McArtor Senior Day Center for years and still organizes SunServe’s monthly Silver Serve Luncheons. Peters was recently nominated for Best Straight Ally at the Out SFL Your Choice Awards.

Like other SAGE chapters, SAGE of South Florida matters. It provides educational programs of interest as well as social events and activities. In the words of founding President Ken Fountaine, “SAGE is a social and support organization for mature gays and lesbians who ae making a difference.” Now, as it embarks upon its thirty-second year, SAGE can be proud of the difference it has made, and continues to make, in our community. Like other queer groups cross the USA, SAGE stands firm and proud against efforts by the Trump administration to deny us our inalienable rights.

Jesse’s Journal
By Jesse Monteagudo

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and South Florida resident since 1964. Share your own experiences with him at jessemonteagudo@comcast.net.