Find program info here for in-person and Zoom meetings
CNY
Gay 5K:
June 4
Registration is Open at cnygay5k.org
The 7th Annual CNY Gay 5k
is in person and virtual this year. Proceeds benefit SAGE Upstate. Tell your friends and register today!
SAGE Upstate promotes the well-being of older gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in Central New York through health programs, socials, support groups, & education.
Celebrating the life of Susan White
A celebration of the life of Susan White will take place at Highland Forrest, Community Shelter, on May 21, at 1:00 pm More details to follow, or for more information email to swhitecelebratelife@gmail.com.
Trimming Bellies
CNY
Now on its own page
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Celebration of Life: Marilyn Austin
Join friends and family to remember the life of Marilyn Austin at Plymouth Congregational Church
on June 4 at 3:00 pm. You're invited to bring along any photo(s) and stories to share. If you are so
moved, please contact Marilyn’s daughter, Chris at 360.595.3156 or chrisot64@gmail.com.
Please feel free to bring a dessert or hors d’oeuvres to share. Non-perishable items for
Plymouth’s Food Pantry are welcome. There is a request that attendees be fully vaccinated.
Mask wearing is encouraged.
SAGE Center Open for Programs
Second Sunday with SAGE will meet on Zoom only in May and June. We'll take July off and if possible, we'll hold an in person picnic in August, and bring Second Sunday back in person on September.
Here's what you need to know if you are coming to the Center:
Masks and at least 3 feet distance are recommended (not required).
All visitors must be fully vaccinated. Bring your vaccination card-- we'll copy it and keep it on file.
Please sign in and out when you visit the Center
Masks, hand sanitizer will be provided.
Please do not visit if you have had symptoms, tested positive, or had close contact with someone who has COVID.
If you become ill within two weeks of visiting, notify us.
Please respect everyone's distancing/masking choices.
Please don't share food.
Reopening guidelines will be reviewed monthly -- stay tuned.
Protect Our SAFE Spaces
Project Open Book
At a time when there is a national effort to shut down and devalue the lives and experiences of LGBTQ folks, Project Open Books provides a powerful counterforce. This charitable organization purchases age-appropriate LGBTQ books to provide for readers – at home, in schools – at no cost. Joshua Lambert, the founder, identifies as a cisgender gay man who struggled in high school to connect with what he was reading at home and at school. He found stories he could connect to and feel empowered by – and that sense of belonging is what he wants for other LGBTQ youth. Books give them a sense of community as they start their journey of self-discovery. Project Open Books has a free library of beautiful queer books. All a person or school has to do is submit a book request – and they will receive the book for free. POB also provides free guidance and activities for educators to use in their classrooms. Look for more information about Project Open Books, as SAGE Upstate is looking for ways to partner with this project and support its much-needed mission. For more information, visitprojectopenbooks.com.
ACLU Town Hall: Standing Up Against Anti-LGBTQ Laws
During this town hall, you’ll hear from a panel of ACLU legal and advocacy experts on the scope of these threats, why they’re happening now, how the ACLU is fighting back, and what you can do to help. The speakers include Chase Strangio, ACLU Deputy Director for Transgender Justice; Emerson Sykes, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech Privacy & Technology Project; and Rebecca Lowell Edwards, ACLU Chief Communications Officer.
Show your support for students' right to learn by signing the ACLU pledge: http://www.aclu.org/RightToLearn
Show your support for trans youth by signing the ACLU’s parent pledge: www.aclu.org/SupportTransYouth
Celebrate Hate Free Zones
As LGBTQ elders, we are joining the fight to protect all LGBTQ people from the bigotry and cruelty that has spawned the introduction of anti-LGBTQ laws all around the country. The "Hate Free Zone flyer, created by Amy Bartell, is available for pick up in the SAGE Upstate Center. We hope you'll come and get one to post in a Hate Free Zone you know of.
If you'd like to support organizations helping LGBT people in the areas affected by new laws, here's a list:
Transgender Youth in Texas https://www.txtranskids.org/
Equality Texas https://linktr.ee/EqualityTexas
Lambda Legal https://www.lambdalegal.org/ ww.glsen.org/
The Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
National LGBTQ Task Force https://www.thetaskforce.org/
Equality Florida https://www.eqfl.org/
PFLAG https://pflag.org/
GLSEN https://www.glsen.org/
The Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Human Rights Campaign https://www.hrc.org/
National LGBTQ Task Force https://www.thetaskforce.org/
Equality Florida https://www.eqfl.org/
PFLAG https://pflag.org/
GLSEN https://www.glsen.org/
For Your Health
Want a trim belly and a healthier life?
Larger waistlines are linked to a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. Losing weight, especially belly fat, also improves blood vessel functioning and improves sleep quality. Johns Hopkins offers these tips to trim down:
Curb Carbs Instead of Fat
Johns Hopkins researchers compared low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets and found that curbing carbs results in loss of 10 extra pounds on average.
Keep Moving
Physical activity helps burn abdominal fat, especially belly fat, because it reduces circulating levels of insulin, which signals the body to hang on to fat and causes the liver to use up fatty acids, especially those nearby visceral fat deposits, he says.
Read labels
Compare and contrast brands. Something may be low fat, but higher in carbs and added sugars.
How your clothes fit may be a better indicator than a number on a scale
Adding muscle mass and losing fat might not change what the scale says too much, but your pants might be looser. This is a better mark of progress, and losing inches around your waist will also reduce heart and diabetes risks.
It's an eating plan, not a diet ...
With a lower carb eating plan you are simply making better food choices—no calorie-counting is necessary. You learn to avoid foods that are high in carbs and and sugar (like bread, bagels and sodas) by choosing high-fiber or high-protein choices, like vegetables, beans and healthy meats.
Lift Weights
Adding even moderate strength training to aerobic exercise helps build lean muscle mass, which causes you to burn more calories throughout the entire day, both at rest and during exercise.
Ditch the processed foods
The ingredients in packaged goods and snack foods are often heavy on trans fats, added sugar and added salt or sodium—three things that make it difficult to lose weight.
Hang out with other healthy eaters
Research shows that you’re more apt to eat better and exercise more if your friends and family are doing the same.
Find more at Johns Hopkins here.
Find more on health issues here
This is interesting ...
Pablo Neruda's Book of Questions for children
Who shouted for joy at the birth of the color blue? When I look once more at the sea, does the sea see me or not see me? Why do the waves ask me the same questions I ask them?
Questions posed in the poems of Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda have been collected in the new, illustrated Libro de las Preguntas (Book of Questions). Illustrator Paloma Valdivia left the Chilean poet's questions unanswered, so readers find their own an answer, and probably more questions. Read more at NPR here.