Celebrating advocates for LGBT older adults.

On Monday, October 20, 2014, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) will celebrate several significant advocates who have made a difference in the lives of LGBT older adults. SAGE, founded in 1978, is the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older adults.

The annual SAGE Awards and Gala held in New York City will honor Rosanne Leipzig, MD, PhD, Vice Chair for Education of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine;

Frank Stark, former SAGE Board Member and Founder of the SAGE Investors Circle, SAGE’s major donor society; New York City Councilmember Ritchie Torres, who led the effort in obtaining funding for SAGE to expand its services across the five boroughs, and MAC AIDS Fund, which has supported people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide for over 20 years.

Dr. Leipzig’s career as a geriatrician has been spent trying to improve the lives of older adults and educating others to do the same. She has received numerous awards for teaching and mentorship and has published over a hundred peer-reviewed papers in academic journals and articles in the mainstream press.

She wrote an Op Ed piece for the New York Times urging doctors to review their healthcare approaches to patients over 80 years old. She is the editor-in-chief of Focus on Healthy Aging, a monthly newsletter for consumers, and chair of the Geriatrics Working Group the United States Preventive Services Task Force.

Dr. Leipzig recently completed her term on the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Board of Directors, where she served as chair of the ABIM Subspecialty Board on Geriatric Medicine. She has been a supporter of SAGE for many years, and lives in Riverdale, N.Y. with her life partner, Ora Chaikin.

The SAGE Gala will be held at Gotham Hall, 1356 Broadway, New York, NY on Monday, October 20 starting at 6:00 pm with cocktails, dinner at 7:00pm followed by awards and ceremony. The playwright Terrence McNally will be a special guest.