NATIONAL ORGANIZING
LAIN and Its Members in the Spotlight
At Fourth National SAGE Conference
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) recently held its fourth national conference -- and took an opportunity to give the LGBT Aging Issues Network a tip of the hat. “It’s About Time: LGBT Aging in a Changing World” was held Oct. 12-14 in Brooklyn. Jennie Chin Hansen, current president of AARP and former chair of the ASA Board of Directors, delivered an inspiring keynote, “Divided We Fail and the Spirit of Inclusion." AARP served as sponsor for the conference -- a first after nearly three decades of occasional national conferences on LGBT aging, starting with the gatherings of the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Gerontology in the 1970s.
During an evening reception at the SAGE conference, the leadership of SAGE recognized LAIN's longstanding contributions to the field of LGBT aging, including our 2006 "Out and Aging" LGBT boomer study produced in collaboration with the MetLife Mature Market Institute. As of the date of the award, “Out and Aging” had received a phenomenal 46 million media impressions -- the estimated number of media consumers exposed to coverage of the study. As SAGE noted during the awards ceremony, this makes the “Out and Aging” report "the most widely disseminated LGBT aging study in history."
Accepting the award on behalf of LAIN were Leadership Council cochairs and "Out and Aging" researchers Kimberly Acquaviva and Brian de Vries, along with LAIN founding member and "Out and Aging" researcher Jean Quam. “Numerous LAIN members were in attendance during the awards reception, making the event all the more exciting for LAIN as a whole,” Acquaviva told OUTWORD ONLINE. “When it comes to awards, nothing is sweeter than the heartfelt applause of friends and respected colleagues!
SAGE also recognized two other leaders at the Oct. 12 reception:
- LAIN member Barbara Howard received an award on behalf of the MetLife Mature Market Institute for the significant role the institute played as a partner with ASA and LAIN in producing the "Out and Aging" study. “Friends and allies of the LGBT community like Barbara Howard are an important part of the LAIN membership,” notes Kim Acquaviva, “so if you know other supporters of the community, consider inviting them to join LAIN.”
- LAIN Leadership Council member Amber Hollibaugh was honored for her lifelong contributions to the field of LGBT aging. The standing ovation Amber received from the packed room spoke volumes about how her peers value and respect her work. Acquaviva reports that as Amber went to the stage to receive her award, “her fellow LAIN members were clapping (and whistling, in that understated, sophisticated way we have!) in an enthusiastic demonstration of appreciation.”
Even more exciting than the awards was seeing the ways in which LAIN members helped make the SAGE gathering a success: LAIN Leadership Council member Michael Adams, executive director of SAGE, and LAIN member Karen Taylor, SAGE's director of advocacy and training, organized an incredible conference and worked with AARP to secure sponsorship. LAIN Leadership Council members Loree Cook-Daniels, Brian de Vries, Amber Hollibaugh and Lisa Krinsky served on the planning committee, working tirelessly for the past year to ensure the ultimate success of the conference.
In addition, more than 20 LAIN members gave presentations at the conference, sharing their expertise and leadership. And LAIN members were a strong and dynamic presence as participants throughout the conference, gathering informally during breakfast and lunch breaks to catch up with old friends, network and chat about the much-anticipated LAIN get-togethers at the 2009 ASA-NCOA Aging in America Conference, coming up in Las Vegas in March.
“SAGE's conference was a huge success,” Kim Acquaviva notes. “LAIN members have every reason to feel tremendously proud of what SAGE and Michael Adams accomplished. Kudos, Michael, on a job well done!”
To download the full text of the “Out and Aging” study as a 20-page PDF, click here. For more information on SAGE, visit www.sageusa.org.
IN MEMORIAM
LGBT Elder Advocate, Longtime LAIN
Member Kristy Finzer Dies at Age 52
Kristy Finzer, a longtime member of LAIN and a committed advocate for LGBT elders, died Sept. 27, 2008, in an automobile accident in Central California; she was 52 years old. Finzer served on the Leadership Council of what was then the Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network from 1997 to 2004; she also was a member of the board of Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, the Los Angeles organization that developed and manages Triangle Square, the first nonprofit LGBT elder housing complex in the United States.
“Kristy’s death is such a shock to all of us,” said LAIN member Linda Laisure, founder and director of Helping Our Mobile Elderly in Venice, Calif. “I knew her from her work in West Los Angeles, and I really got to know her better through ASA and through her constant sense of justice to make life better for the LGBT community. She was dedicated beyond words to the individuals she served.
“I remember that Kristy was on the committee of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center that studied the unmet needs of the older LGBT community,” Laisure added. “She participated in the sensitivity trainings for social workers, discharge planners and administrators of assisted living facilities to educate individuals regarding the special needs of the LGBT older adults. She helped change our lives for the better.”
Lora Connolly, chief deputy director of the California Department of Aging and founding cochair of LAIN, also paid tribute to Finzer’s work: “Kristy Finzer was one of the trailblazers in doing LGBT cultural competence training in California,” Connolly said.
“Kristy was one of a few out there doing these sessions back when many professionals in the field of aging didn't feel that they could come out and really actively get involved publicly in these efforts,” Connolly noted. “I fondly remember the training we did together for the California County Welfare Directors Conference in Asilomar a number of years ago, one of the many times we presented together. Her death is a very sad loss, but I believe she will continue to be with us in spirit in our advocacy efforts.”
A licensed marriage and family therapist, Finzer was the associate director of programs for Exodus Recovery, an agency that provided case management and psychotherapy to mentally ill individuals in Los Angeles County. In addition, she taught in the Graduate Psychology Division at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. Finzer is survived by her father, three siblings and several nieces and nephews. The Los Angeles Times published a brief obituary and has posted an online guestbook which will be open for comments until Nov. 4, 2008; visit click here.
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