Join us for the 10th Annual SAGE Celebration! Sponsored by AARP St. Louis, SAGE of PROMO Fund hosts this social event on Sunday, November 6 at the Moonrise Hotel from 2-4 p.m. We come together as equality supporters to mingle with fellow advocates and celebrate the strides we have made in enhancing the quality of life of LGBTQ older adults through service, advocacy, and community awareness.
This year, the Dennis W. Hostetler Advocate of the Year Award will be presented to Erise Williams and Bruce Yampolsky.
Bruce is a founding board member of SAGE and served as President of SAGE for many years. He also served as the first openly-gay elected official in the City of Saint Louis, formerly serving as the 28th Ward Democratic Committeeman and a Member of the Democratic State Committee. Bruce and his husband Terry were one of four same-sex couples that were issued marriage licenses and were married in the Mayor’s Office to directly challenge Missouri’s bans on such unions. Their marriage led to state legislation, which restricted same-sex marriages, being overturned.
From 1990-2022, Erise Williams founded and led a grassroots organization called Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS (BABAA). During a time when HIV was largely considered a “white gay man’s” disease, Erise took urgent action to draw attention to the HIV crisis within the local Black community. He marched, demonstrated, mobilized the community — even chained himself to the front door of City Hall. He eventually went on to earn a Master of Public Health degree in 2006 and subsequently opened Williams & Associates, a local health services organization dedicated to combating racial health disparities with a special focus on HIV.
Additionally, we are excited to announce and discuss some changes that SAGE of PROMO Fund will be undergoing at the start of the new year. For all these reasons and more, we hope you can join us for the SAGE Celebration.
Ticket Price: $25 Online | $30 at the Door
Entertainment by Jen Norman
Complimentary Appetizers & Cash Bar