Local

Growing number of care providers catering to LGBTQ seniors

SAGE highlights unique needs of community at Virginia event

Published

2 years ago

November 16, 2022

More healthcare providers are recognizing the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ elders. (Photo courtesy of Bigstock)

An event scheduled for Nov. 17 in Sterling, Va., described as ‘Giving Thanks to LGBTQ+ Elders: SAGE Table’ was expected to draw attention to the growing number of organizations and senior care facilities in Northern Virginia and in the D.C. metro area in general that are supportive of LGBTQ seniors.

The New York City-based national LGBTQ seniors advocacy group SAGE launched what it called SAGE Tables in 2017 as a gathering to share a meal among people of all ages to support their LGBTQ friends and family members who are seniors, in part, to alleviate social isolation.

SAGE has said hundreds of such gatherings have taken place across the country since SAGE Table events began.

The Sterling, Va., SAGE Table event was being co-hosted by five Northern Virginia-based senior care organizations or facilities that are welcoming to LGBTQ seniors, according to Karen McPhail, the CEO of Eldementals, LLC, one of the senior care providers hosting the event.

McPhail is also the founder and director of Aging Rainbows, a Great Falls, Va.-based group that advocates for LGBTQ seniors, and which is also one of the five co-hosts of the SAGE Table event in Sterling.

The other co-hosts include Insight Memory Care, a seniors care facility in Sterling where the SAGE Table event was to be held; Care Connect Nova of Purcellville, Va., a lesbian-owned company that provides in-home concierge senior care services in all parts of Northern Virginia; and Retirement Unlimited, Inc. (RUI), a Richmond, Va.-based company that provides both independent and assisted living residential facilities for seniors in Northern Virginia.

“Come enjoy an evening of dining and conversation,” a statement released by organizers of the Sterling SAGE Table event says. “SAGE Table events bring together people of all ages to share a meal and conversation,” it says. “The transformative relationships formed around a SAGE Table can alleviate social isolation and its consequences.”

McPhail said that while the senior care operators co-hosting the SAGE Table, including her company, are supportive and knowledgeable of the needs of LGBTQ seniors, not all such facilities have that knowledge and provide that support. She said she was prompted to form Aging Rainbows after witnessing first-hand inappropriate treatment toward one of her clients who is transgender.

“One of my transgender clients fell,” McPhail said. “She had a neck fracture. She had been doing well, independent, no problems before the fall,” McPhail told the Blade. “She is 63 years old and all of a sudden, she’s going to skilled nursing rehab. And they wanted to put her in a gender inappropriate room,” McPhail continued.

“And it took me hours of shielding her from what I thought was inappropriate, and educating and advocating to find the appropriate room,” she said. “I had to work over weeks to educate people who had no idea of her needs. And at that point, I sat down at my desk and said, enough. So, I created at that time all the information for starting Aging Rainbows.”

Among other things, McPhail said, Aging Rainbows advises senior care facilities she works with to enroll employees and officials in an LGBTQ competency training program operated nationally by SAGE. The facilities and organization participating in the program, called SAGECare, are designated “SAGECare credentialed” and are included in SAGE database lists available to LGBTQ elders looking for a safe and supportive facility in which to reside.

“It is the case now that in almost all states there are one or more elder care facilities that have been trained throughout our SAGECare program,” SAGE CEO Michael Adams told the Blade in a recent interview. “But it’s nowhere near where it needs to be,” he said. “It needs to be that there are welcoming elder care facilities in every single community in this country” for LGBTQ elders.

Insight Memory Care and Eldementals are SAGECare Platinum credentialed, according to SAGE spokesperson Christina Da Costa.

Da Costa told the Blade this week that there are currently 17 SAGECare credentialed organizations or facilities in the D.C. metro area. Among them is the Ingleside at Rock Creek residential seniors facility in D.C.

Under the SAGECare program, there are now 174,699 professionals trained and 748 SAGECare credentialed organizations or facilities nationwide, Da Costa said.

As of one year ago, SAGE said there were 15 elder care residential facilities in the U.S. created specifically to serve LGBTQ seniors. They are located in several of the nation’s large cities, including New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. But none are located in D.C., Virginia or Maryland.

Aging Rainbows, meanwhile, is among several D.C.-area organizations that provide support and services for LGBTQ seniors. The D.C. Center for the LGBT Community and Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive healthcare center, have provided programs and services for LGBTQ seniors for more than a decade.

Among the regular events offered by Center Aging, the D.C. Center’s seniors program are its weekly Monday morning Coffee and Conversation gathering and its weekly Friday afternoon Tea Time gathering. Both are currently held via Zoom.

As part of its ongoing special events, the Center Aging program held an event on Saturday, July 21 called Intergenerational Hangout in which LGBTQ older adults and LGBTQ younger adults came together for a discussion about “everything and anything in the hopes of building bridges between generations and providing some laughs along the way,” according to a D.C. Center announcement of the event.

Abby Fenton, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker Health, said the LGBTQ supportive health center has long provided supportive and affirming medical care for LGBTQ seniors who make up a large number of its patients.

Fenton said “quite a few” of Whitman-Walker’s LGBTQ seniors patients are longtime HIV survivors who feel comfortable coming to a healthcare provider with expertise and understanding of how best to keep people with HIV healthy.

Whitman-Walker Health also co-coordinates at least four peer-led support groups for LGBTQ seniors called Silver Circles, that meet once a week, according to Michael Mitchell, the Whitman-Walker coordinator of the Silver Circles program. Mitchell said the program is operated jointly by Whitman-Walker and Iona Senior Services, a D.C.-based nonprofit organization that provides services for seniors, including LGBTQ seniors.

“Iona is proud to offer programs specifically created for LGBTQ older adults, in addition to our other programs that are open to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression,” Iona says on its website.

Mitchell said the Silver Circles groups discuss a wide range of issues of interest to LGBTQ seniors, including the subject of sex.

He said the program is supported financially by the D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living, which lists on its website community-based organizations, including Whitman-Walker, Iona, and the D.C. Center that provide services for LGBTQ seniors.

Also providing support and services for LGBTQ seniors is Capitol Hill Village, a nonprofit organization serving older adults in Capitol Hill and surrounding neighborhoods, a statement on organization’s website says. The statement says the group’s focus is on helping seniors “age in place” in their own homes by providing services from its volunteers such as home maintenance and transportation.

Like the D.C. Center’s LGBTQ seniors gathering events on Mondays and Fridays, Mitchell said all the Silver Circle gatherings continue to meet virtually via Zoom.

Longtime D.C. LGBTQ seniors advocate Ron Swanda said he is disappointed that the D.C. Center’s seniors gatherings as well as other local seniors events have continued to meet virtually.

“I’d rather do these things face to face because I learn better and I like to get the feel for the people involved,” he said. “When I do it online I don’t,” said Swanda, who told the Blade he has withdrawn from participating in most Zoom events.

Mitchell of Whitman-Walker said that although participants in the LGBTQ seniors programs yearn for the pre-COVID, in-person gatherings, most have adjusted to the Zoom meetings, and some prefer them.

“Initially, we were concerned that our senior Circle folks wouldn’t necessarily get the technology,” Mitchell said in referring to the use of online programs like Zoom. “But they’ve glommed onto the technology pretty quickly,” he said.

“And what we have found is that they do miss meeting in person, as isolation is one of the things we’re trying to tackle, but not having to come downtown, find parking, be out after dark, be on icy sidewalks in the winter, that kind of thing has actually been very helpful for a lot of these folks,” according to Mitchell.

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District of Columbia

LGBTQ budget advocates fight for D.C. resources in a tough fiscal year

‘Trying to preserve life-saving services’ amid $1 billion cut

Published

10 hours ago

April 15, 2025

Joe Reberkenny

Heidi Ellis, coordinator of the DC LGBT Budget Coalition. (Photo courtesy of Heidi Ellis)

The months and days leading up to June are especially busy for LGBTQ Washingtonians. For one group, the DC LGBT Budget Coalition, which works year-round to ensure LGBTQ residents are represented and financially supported by the D.C. government, this time of year is their Super Bowl. Beginning in April, the D.C. Council and Mayor’s Office hold budget hearings for the next fiscal year.

With D.C.’s budget now under review, the Washington Blade spoke with Heidi Ellis, coordinator of the DC LGBT Budget Coalition, about the group’s top priorities and their push to ensure continued support for queer communities.

“The LGBTQ Budget Coalition was founded in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, as a way for the community to work together to advocate for key funding and policy changes,” Ellis said. “We recognized we were stronger together. A lot of groups are often pitted against each other for resources and dollars. This coalition was founded out of a need for unity. Since then, we’ve successfully advocated for more than $20 million in dedicated LGBTQ investments.”

In addition to coordinating the coalition, Ellis is the founder and CEO of HME Consulting & Advocacy, a firm that helps build coalitions and advance policy initiatives that address intersectional issues in the LGBTQ community. One of its most powerful tools, she explained, is direct outreach through community surveys.

“We actually do community surveys to see what people need and what’s top of mind,” Ellis said. “Of course, we also pay attention to the broader political landscape — like the current threats to HIV funding. That helps us prioritize.”

Because the coalition is comprised of more than 20 organizations across various sectors —healthcare, housing, community organizing — Ellis said its diversity enables it to connect grassroots needs to potential policy solutions.

“Our coalition includes service providers, community groups, health and housing advocates-folks who are deeply plugged into what’s happening on the ground,” she said. “They help determine our direction. We know we don’t represent every queer person in D.C., but our coalition reflects a wide range of identities and experiences.”

The insights gathered through those surveys ultimately inform the coalition’s annual budget proposal, which is submitted to the Council and mayor.

“That’s how we got to our FY26 priorities,” she said. “This year, more than ever, we’re fighting to protect what we’ve already secured — funding and policies we’ve had to fight for in the past. We know there’s concern around this budget.”

One of the challenges this year is that the D.C. government’s operating budget and some of its legislation must be approved by Congress. With a projected decline in tax revenue and a Republican-controlled Congress that has historically opposed LGBTQ funding, the Coalition has had to think strategically.

“Even before the situation on the Hill, the CFO projected lower revenue,” Ellis said. “That meant cuts to social programs were already coming. And now, with the $1 billion slashed from D.C.’s budget due to the continuing resolution, we’re not only fighting for D.C.’s budget and autonomy, but also trying to preserve life-saving services. Our message is simple: Don’t forget about queer people.”

This year’s proposal doesn’t include specific dollar figures. Instead, the Coalition outlines five funding priority areas: Healthcare, Employment & Economic Equity, Housing, Safety & Community Support, and Civil Rights.

Why no exact amounts? Ellis said it’s because not all solutions are financial.

“Some of our asks don’t require new funding. Others build on existing programs-we’re asking whether the current use of funds is the most effective. We’re also proposing policy changes that wouldn’t cost extra but could make a real difference. It’s about using what we have better,” she said.

When drafting the proposal, the Coalition tries to prioritize those with the most pressing and intersecting needs.

“Our perspective is: If we advocate for the most vulnerable, others benefit too,” Ellis said. “Take LGBTQ seniors. Some may have done well in life but now face housing insecurity or struggle to access affordable healthcare. Many in our coalition are elders who fought on the frontlines during the AIDS epidemic. They bring critical historical context and remind us that Black and brown communities bore the brunt of that crisis.”

“I love our coalition because it keeps us accountable to the moment,” she added. “If we center those most marginalized, we can make an impact that lifts everyone.”

In addition to healthcare and housing, safety remains a top concern. The Coalition has fought to maintain funding for the Violence Prevention and Response Team (VPART), a city-supported group that includes MPD, community-based organizations, and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. VPART responds to crimes affecting the LGBTQ community and connects victims to legal, healthcare, and housing services.

“We’ve pushed to make VPART more proactive, not just reactive,” Ellis said. “The funding we’ve secured has helped survivors get the support they need. Cutting that funding now would undo progress we’re just beginning to see.”

At the end of the day, Ellis emphasized that this process is about far more than spreadsheets.

“A budget is a moral document,” she said. “If we’re not represented, you’re telling us our lives don’t matter at a time when we need protection the most. When people can’t get food, medicine, housing — that has a devastating impact. These are vital services.”

The DC LGBT Budget Coalition is urging residents to support a letter-writing campaign to D.C. Council members and the mayor. You can send a letter here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/fully-fund-dcs-lgbtq-communities

Read the full FY26 budget proposal here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bTrENnc4ZazJTO6LPrQ3lZkF02QNIIf1/view

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns bigger than ever with two-day WorldPride celebration

Published

11 hours ago

April 15, 2025

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier will be extended to a two-day celebration in honor of WorldPride coming to D.C. this year. Taking place on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at The Wharf, this year’s event promises more entertainment, more community, and more pride than ever before — all set against the stunning waterfront backdrop of our nation’s capital.

With the addition of Friday, the party kicks off at 3 p.m., with the inaugural WorldPride Boat Parade at 7 p.m. As an Official WorldPride Partner event, the boat parade will feature 30 decorated boats parading along the Washington Channel. For information on signing up for the boat parade contact Stephen Rutgers at [email protected].

Saturday’s signature Pier Party kicks off at 12 p.m., featuring a drag show, DJ’s, streaming of the WorldPride Parade, and the iconic Fireworks Show Presented by the Leonard-Litz Foundation — one of D.C. Pride’s most anticipated spectacles.

“We’re expanding Washington Blade Pride on the Pier to reflect the excitement and momentum building for WorldPride in D.C.,” said Blade publisher Lynne Brown. “It’s a celebration of our community’s progress and a powerful reminder of the joy and visibility Pride brings to the heart of our city.”

Now in its seventh year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access, hosted bars, and private viewing areas for the boat parade and the fireworks show. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Friday VIP: 5-9 p.m., enjoy an air-conditioned lounge, private bathroom, cash bar and complimentary drink.

Saturday VIP Session #1: 2-5 p.m., enjoy an air-conditioned lounge, private bathroom, catered food, and an open bar.

Saturday VIP Session #2: 6-9 p.m., enjoy the air-conditioned lounge, private bathroom, catered snacks and dinner, and open bar with a front-row view of the fireworks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq., S.W., Washington, D.C.)
📅 Dates: Friday, June 6 & Saturday, June 7, 2025
🛥️Boat Parade: 7 p.m. (June 6). 🎆 Fireworks Show: 9 p.m. (June 7)
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP

Event sponsors include Absolut, Capital Pride, DC Fray, Infinate Legacy, Heineken, Leonard-Litz Foundation, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, Relish Catering, Washingtonian, and The Wharf. More information regarding activities will be released at www.PrideOnThePierDC.com

Maryland

Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands

Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation

Published

11 hours ago

April 15, 2025

Baltimore Banner

(Bigstock photo)

By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.

The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.

Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.