We Owe A Debt Of Gratitude To Our LGBTQ+ Elders

This article is adapted from remarks given at the 2024 annual SAGE Awards & Gala.

This week, SAGE hosted our annual Awards & Gala to highlight our support for the well-being of LGBTQ+ elders. Seeing so many individuals come together to support SAGE’s work on behalf of our community elders was wonderful.?

While the event brought a joyful and celebratory mood, it’s not far from any of our minds that are living through some very challenging times in our country. There’s a cloud that hangs over this nation and our community as we approach the upcoming election ? an election that has often been described as posing the biggest threat to democracy, equality, and basic human decency in modern times.?

We are witnessing a campaign season in which vicious political attacks are launched against transgender people and immigrants on a daily basis in a craven attempt to win votes by whipping up fear and hatred.?

And yet, in the hall where we hosted our beautiful Gala, we felt so much love, joy resilience, and determination.?

That’s because it was an evening all about our community’s elders. We are so grateful for everything our LGBTQ+ elders have given us, including courage and determination in the face of adversity, love in the face of hate, and hope in the face of despair.?

These are important truths. But for us, as members and allies of a community dedicated to justice and equality, it goes even deeper.?

We’re here because our elders built this LGBTQ+ community from the ground up. Piece by piece, they dismantled the closet of shame and invisibility society built for them. From Stonewall onward, they fought the battles that won our rights. And they paved the way for the proud lives we live today.

Because of our elders, we can stand in the face of all of the challenges we confront and say with assurance that we refuse to have our equality rolled back.

We refuse to be invisible.

Our elders didn’t accomplish all these things because it was easy. They pushed through times when it was downright life-threatening, career-killing, and soul-crushing to be queer and proud. Through the witch hunts and demonization of the McCarthy era of the 1950s. Through being labeled as pedophiles by the likes of Anita Bryant, and as sexual criminals by the government. Through an AIDS epidemic that killed hundreds of thousands of our community members while society and government looked the other way or worse. Through Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. Through the ongoing brutality of every sort against trans people and community members of color.

Through it all, our elders have taught us to stay proud, stay resilient, and never give up.

And they taught those who oppose our rights and demonize our humanity that, while we may lose some battles, and while we may endure great pain, we will not be defeated, we will not give up, we will not be made invisible.

This is the legacy our elders have given us. It’s why we come together at our Gala and give back to them by supporting SAGE.

When I talk about our elders, I’m talking about people like Frank Stark, who came to this country as a young child as his family fled the horrors of the Nazis and World War II.

Frank could have been crushed and defeated by his tumultuous early years, or by the terrible and deeply personal losses he suffered during the worst of the AIDS crisis. But instead, Frank always kept his spirit as a proud gay man and dedicated his life to this community.

I’m talking about Beverly Glenn Copeland, a Black trans man who grew up defying expectations, who had to wait until later in life for his beautiful gifts and music to win the recognition they deserved, but who never gave up and who inspires legions of young people to lean into the light of life.

I’m talking about elders like Lujira Cooper, a Black lesbian who once was homeless but fought her way back with SAGE’s help. She went to school and got her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and is now a proud and accomplished author and advocate.

Frank, Glenn, Lujira – these are just three of the more than 5 million LGBTQ+ elders across this nation who should be growing old as the heroes they are.

However, far too many LGBTQ+ elders are growing old alone, isolated, without the support they need to age with dignity. Far too many are aging in poverty. Far too many are subjected not just to homophobia and transphobia, but also to racism and other biases as LGBTQ+ elders of color, as immigrant elders, and as elders in rural areas. Far too many face neglect and discrimination as they age, with many of our elders feeling forced to go back into the closet to protect themselves from mistreatment.

SAGE works year in and year out to change all of that.

Thanks to our SAGECare training program, almost 500,000 LGBTQ+ elders now have access to quality, welcoming elder care as they age. That’s 500,000 older community members who will never be forced to go back into the closet to access culturally sensitive care.

SAGE’s policy advocacy has not only won LGBTQ+ inclusion in federal laws like the Older Americans Act, but also won key support for LGBTQ+ elders in some of the toughest places in the country for our community – states like Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, and Nebraska.

Our National Housing Initiative is catalyzing the development of thousands of units of welcoming and affordable housing for LGBTQ+ older people across the country.

Our SAGE Centers and the housing we support here in New York City provide life-saving services and programs to thousands of elders.

This is just a sampling of the transformative work that everyone helping to further SAGE’s mission is making possible.

We owe a debt of gratitude to our elders.

They have taught us so much about how to live life, how to stay strong, and how to link arms and hearts across generations to keep doing what needs to be done. With their beautiful and eternal voices, our elders have shown us how to be powerful, even in our vulnerabilities.

Today, and in the days and weeks and years that follow, let’s honor what our elders have given us in every way that we can. Let’s make them proud, and keep building on their legacy for ourselves, for our community, and for the generations ahead.

And let’s relentlessly work together to build a world in which all elders can age with the dignity and respect that they deserve.