Good morning. Good morning everybody. going to just take a few minutes of your time to have some introductions and to say hello. My name is Bob Connors. I'm the chief
community services officer at Ethos. It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this annual gay pride lunchon. I would like to welcome you to this gathering. A space of warmth, acceptance, and celebration.
Is a reminder that regardless of age, we are all vital parts of this beautiful mosaic. Let us cherish the connections we build, support one another, and continue to advocate for a world where every
individual is free to live authentically and proudly. To our older adults in Boston LGBTQ plus community, we extend our deepest gratitude. Thank you for your bravery, your resilience, and your unwavering
commitment to equality and justice. You have laid the foundation upon which future generations will stand and for that we are eternally grateful. I would also like to take a moment to extend our heartfelt thanks to ethos, the Boston Age Strong Commission and the city of
Boston LGBTQ advancement in Mayor Michelle Woo for all their dedication and hard work have been instrumental in supporting and uplifting the LGBTQ plus community. Their initiatives, programs, and unwavering
commitment to fostering inclus inclusivity and care have made a profound impact on the lives of many. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and continued support. As we celebrate together today, let us take a moment to
reflect on our shared journey and the incredible progress we have made. Let us also take the time to truly enjoy each other's company, to laugh, share stories, and create new memories. This is a moment to recognize and appreciate
the community we have built. A community where love, understanding, and acceptance flourish. Here's to celebrating you and the remarkable legacy you continue to build in Boston. Today we have both Michelle Michelle Woo Emily Sheay the
commissioner of aged strong commission attending and others that will speak be speaking during the day. I would like to bring up our first speaker. I think you all know him very well. His name is Bob Lindcott.
He is the wellness manager at Age John Commission. Give a hand for Bob Lindscott please. Hello everybody. Happy Pride. Isn't this just looking around our tables and our rooms? Isn't this like
just medicine for the soul right now? Oh my god. Especially in these like crazy times to be able to come to a place like this and see folks and and Reverend I Reed and I were just laughing like so many people we see each other once a year. here. You
know, this is a place to to to see and be seen. So, it's great to see you all here. I'm I'm thrilled to I'm thrilled to be back here with all of you. I'm thrilled to celebrate another year of pride. Um I also want to make sure it's it's my my duty to make sure in my role
at at age to make sure that you know that you are welcome to every single event that we do in the city of Boston. This is this is we're here for you. We want to make sure you are as happy and engaged and we want to know the programs that you want to do. Last year at this
time I had this crazy idea about like what it would be like if we did brought people out rowing crew on the Charles River and the LGBT boat was the first one out of the gate. So couple some of the rowers are here. There yay. Great to see some of the rowers here.
We are continuing we are continuing that this year. And so if people didn't get a chance, we're we're starting all over again with the learn to row. And for those of you in the LGBT boat, now you're you're advanced to go to our skills building team. So just let us know. Sign up on the on the sheet at the
age strong table. Happy to have you. And my one crazy idea that we're going to be getting ready to launch this year, a new one, just like blowing on the Charles River. Of course, it's when a gay man is up here doing this. Starting Bollywood dance lessons. Wouldn't that doesn't
that Bollywood dance lessons in Boston? So stay tuned for more information about that. Um and my colleague I don't is Tim is Tim here? No. So you'll get a chance to meet with
a new face at age barel who is our LGBT uh liaison. So LGBTQ plus liaison. So he'll be eventually be around. So he is our point person there. If you have any questions, any concerns, anything in your area, please let us know. So, anyway, enjoy your day today. It's great
to celebrate this with you and happy Pride, everyone. Thank you. Thank you, Bob. I'd like now to ask the Reverend Irene Monroe to come up and give the invocation. Happy Pride everyone.
Are you ready to get your groove on later today? Don't leave here unless you've you've d you've danced with me. But listen, happy Pride. It's just a wonderful time to always return here to show up and show out, you know, because you all bring
joy, beauty, and love to this space here. And I'm honored to be in this space with you and to return every year and see your faces even if it's just once a year. Ethos is community
and community is important especially in this particular administration. Our civil rights would not be where they are today were it not for many of you who are sitting here today. You and let's applaud ourselves. Okay,
you know, at this event are the change makers and the foot soldiers of our movement. And as a matter of fact, there would be no Boston Pride were not for many of you in the room. It's okay to love yourself. Come
on now. Kiss yourself. Come on. And as elders of the community, we have shown the entire commonwealth what coming out of the provoke pro proverbial closet means in terms of self-acceptance. It is our shoulders we can proudly say
that a younger generation stands on. As elders we have earned our seat to sit here at this table today. As elders, a form of self-care is having community.
Ethos is our community and continues to make a difference in our lives. This lunchon comforts our heart, feeds our bellies, resonate with our soul, energize our spirit, and we get our
groove on. Come on now. We still got it going on. Ethos provides for us and helps us as an aging LGBTQIA community. Ethos serves us to have a quality of
life to live with dignity and respect, making our lives less lonely and more joyful in our senior years. The services that ethos provide just makes aging less
of a burden and more of a shared journey moving forward with life like this event. Evidence have shown that social isolation and and loneliness hinders good health, putting elders like ourselves at risk for high blood
pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, anxiety, depression, and even death. The programs that Ethos provide are just absolutely priceless and addresses issues that are
specific to our our demographic group. Let me give you an example. The rate of hunger or food insecurity for seniors aged 60 and older increases and it increases for higher for our particular
demographic group. I almost felt like I was at church with y'all all talking while I'm preaching, but that's all right, you know. And it brings comfort to know that we can come here as a community. Aging in community brings joy
and security to us all. And and one of the things that you always have to remember that ethos got our back. It has my back and it it's got your back. But it's important. Now, this is the important part, okay? because we can't take this for granted. But it's
important to understand that we cannot take this moment or this organization for granted. In 2023, Ethos celebrated its 50th anniversary and we wanted around 50 more years. And as elders, we
understand that democracy, and this is important, that democracy can only begin to work when those relegated to the fringes of society can begin to sample what those in society take for granted as the inalienable right. And in so
doing, we have to fight. And it helps also to be in Massachusetts. We have racked up an impressive list of civil rights victories that have overturned discrimination in Massachusetts and by
extension the entire nation. However, our rights are back on the chopping block. the challenges before us as LGBTQIA individuals and particularly our trans
brothers and sisters during this Trump administration is troubling. from rolling back essential protections in health care, housing, and military services to attempting to erase
transgender individuals from federal policies. The administration stance today undermines years of progress for our community. In 2025, and this is important,
in 2025, anti-trans bills continue to be introduced across this country. To date, 937 bills have been introduced in 49 states except for Massachusetts.
Except for Massachusetts. These bills would negatively impact trans and gender non-conforming people. This number is anticipated to grow. For example, 114 anti-trans bills have been
passed already. 745 are still active and only 48 have have failed. We now reside in a divided society that many of us have not seen since 1960. However, let us remember that the
longing for democracy is also the longing for change and social justice. This the democracy needs to hear all of our voices. We need a unified message because I need to tell you that if you're a Democrat like I am,
the Democrats ain't got no game. So, they need they need to hear from us what would give them some game. We need a unified form of action. As elders, I hope we have passed on to a younger generation
of righteous anger and that change is our shared responsibility. We have shown in our marches. We have shown in our marches in organizations like ACTUP how to fight until hell
freezes over and then to fight on the ice. As elders, we have shown with the many civil rights victories since Stonewall that the power of the people is far greater than the people in power. And as LGQIA,
you know, citizens, we have shown the Commonwealth that we too are part of Boston's illustrious history of freedom fighters. In talking about this present administration, I heard Paul Glass, the co-founder and
program coordinator of the LGBTQ elders of color, tell his audience at the elders of color annual um pride um lunchon just this Sunday that he still has some fight in him. I do too and I
believe you do too. But this is also important. Tomorrow is Junth. Now, this is important, particularly for a country that like to say slavery didn't exist. On June 19th, 1865,
2 and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, 250,000 of my enslaved ancestors in Galveistston, Texas, did not know that they had freedom until Union soldiers
came to the city and told them, "As LGBTQ people, we know we are free, but we must continue our fight for our freedom. Junth is the celebration of the completion of Abraham Lincoln's 1863
Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all enslaved people in the United States. But as Africanameans, but as Africanameans, we know that the struggle continues. Junth and LGBT pride celebrations
connect us through our shared themes of freedom, equality, and the ongoing struggle for social justice. But celebrations, but both celebrations recognize that marginalized community
like ours must continue the fight, must have the resilience towards a new tomorrow. Junth acknowledged the persistence of systemic racism while Pride acknowledged the continued fight
for our rights and and liberation. But remember this. Remember this folks, we're FAM folks. We're ethos. Let's stick together in this ongoing fight for
our rights. God bless you. Happy Pride. All right, enjoy your lunch. Can I ask Julianne Lee to come up? Uh, the executive director of the mayor's office of LGBTQ advancement. Thank you.
Happy Pride, Boston. Happy Pride, everybody. My name is Julianne Lee and I use she they pronouns and I have the honor of serving as the executive director of the mayor's office of LGBT plus advancement.
I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to my co-hosts, siblings and services at the age commission ethos along with their dedicated staff, volunteers, community partners who helped bring today's event to life. Your time,
energy, heart make moments just like this so powerful. It's always a true joy to stand in community with you all during Pride, especially here in Boston. To be honest, this is my favorite event, and I say it every year.
This is my favorite Pride event, and we go to 26. We know that Pride is a celebration, but it's also a commitment. a time to honor the past, engage with present, with purpose, and shape a
future that truly belongs to us all. Today, I want to take a moment to especially uplift and thank you to all of our LGBTQ plus older adults. You, the elders of our movement, the carriers of our story, and the reason why so many of
us are here living and loving out loud. Everyone take just one second. Look around the room. Look at neighbors. Look at someone far across the room. You marched when it wasn't safe. You
organized. You protested. You persisted through decades of discrimination, heartbreak, resilience. The rights and visibilities we celebrate today are built on your courage. As we move forward, we must continue to show up with the same urgency and care you've
shown for us. This year, under Mayor Woo's leadership, our office has taken meaningful steps to support our LGBT plus residents of all ages, but centering our older adults. We have launched Boston's first
ever LGBTQ plus resource hub, and you can find it at boston.gov/lgbgq. gov/lgbgbtq. I'll say it one more time. I see a couple people writing it down. boston.govlgbtq. It's a one-stop space to connect to
affirming spaces, services, housing, healthcare, legal help, and social programming for older adults all across Boston. We also released a discrimination reporting handbook and created in partnership with MCAD and Northeastern University to help
residents understand your rights and how to report. Mayor Woo recently announced a $125,000 investment in free legal support through Greater Boston Legal Services in GLAD,
ensuring our community, including our older adults facing insecurity or discrimination, have trusted advocates by their side. We've also grown our Mola partner network to over 90 affirming organizations, many of whom are in this
room together. And lastly, through our Beyond Pride grant program, we've awarded $150,000 to over 45 local organizations. And I'll just end by saying because when
we say we want Boston to be a city, a home for us all, we mean all of us. That includes our black and brown, trans, non-binary residents, our youth, our chosen families, and absolutely our older adults.
And to everyone here today, thank you so much for your presence, your voice, your love, your celebration. It's more than a moment. It's a reflection of what true belonging looks like when we honor every generation and every single journey.
I'm wanting to wish you all a very happy pride. A happy pride from the bottom of my heart from my wife and my six-year-old. Together with Mayor Woo, aged strong in our office, we are building a Boston where we don't just live, we thrive.
It's Pride 365. And I do want to take a minute to thank my team members who are here, Kimberly and Justice. I also see tons of agong team members. I see Karine. I see Nuria. I see Ty. Thank you so much. You all
have been a second family to me when home sometimes hasn't been friendly. You all have been supporting me through the years and you are all been my mentors through 18 years of service
very much including our own commissioner Shay from Arstrong. Thank you Julianne. Let's give Julianne a big round of applause. I mean, I've had I've had the opportunity to work with Julianne over the years, and um I just I can't be more
proud of all that she and her office have accomplished um in support of our LGBTQ plus older residents. So, thank you, Julianne. Um so, I'm Emily Shay from Age Strong. I know a lot of you out there and I'm thrilled to be back here
again this year. We love this event. Um, and I love that um kind of uh Pride 365. Pride or Pride 365. Did I get that right? Pride 365. Right. Because um we want to make sure that you all have
access to what you need, not just in June, which wonderful for us to come together and celebrate in June, but we want to make sure you have access to what you need all year round. Um, I think that a lot of you know what our
office does at Agrong, transportation, access to benefits, lots of events and programs. We actually have some new programming that's up and running um in Union Church in the South End in Roxberry at the DIT Center at the Gilden Dorchester. So, we hope you all come out
and take advantage of that. But I did want to point out one person on my team, which is Tim. Tim, come over here. Um, So Tim is Tim is one of our advocacy and benefit specialists and he is also
serves as our LGBTQ liaison. So if you need anything Yeah. Thank you. So uh if you need anything please feel free to reach out to anyone on my team but you know you can always reach Tim as well. Um, we know that none
of us could do this work alone and I'm actually looking over at uh Dale who we collaborated on uh starting this event together many years ago. Um, but we are thrilled, very thrilled to work in so many different ways, right? Not just
this event, but on nutrition, on programming in the community, on um volunteer programs, kind of it runs the gamut. We work with our partners' ethos and I could not be more proud to bring
up their brand new CEO um Lauren Singer. So please join me in a round of applause. Thank you so much everyone. Uh good afternoon. It is absolutely my honor to be here today as the new CEO of Ethos.
Uh this this week marks my two months at Ethos and I can't tell you how pleased I am to have joined this amazing organization. Um happy pride. I can't forget that. Um and it's wonderful to see so many
familiar faces and some new friends here today. And I want to begin um by extending my deepest gratitude to Mayor Michelle Woo and her administration. Their unwavering support has been instrumental
in helping EthOS champion the needs of older older adults and the older LGBTQ community. A special thank you to Jose Maso, chief of human services for his dedication and partnership. I also want to recognize Emily Sheay, commissioner
of Agrong Boston. Emily, your commitment to our cause makes you one of Ethos's most important partners. Julianne, who just spoke, executive director of the mayor's office of LGBTQ advancement, thank you for your tireless efforts and
advocacy. Um, and the several uh elected officials here that hopefully will speak in a few minutes. We are so thankful and uh to your attendance. I also wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to the incredible staff at Ethos and the
Astrong Commission who organized this event. Your hard work and dedication are what make gatherings like this possible and successful. Ethos has been at the forefront of addressing the unique challenges faced
by LG LGBTQ older adults. We sponsor programs that create safe and affirming environments, foster friendships, strengthen support networks, rebuild resiliency within our community. The senior pride lunchon is one of the
largest gatherings of its kind in New England. With over 350 LGBTQ elders and supporters here today, it exemplifies our unwavering commitment to inclusivity and community.
Our community cafes, including Cafe Emanuel, out for supper, out to brunch at Gddard House, and Roger House Cafe are more than just places to have a hot, nutritious meal. They're safe spaces where LGBTQ plus seniors can see
friends, make new ones, and support each other. These cafes are vital in creating a sense of belonging and community. This year, Ethos has a special focus on supporting caregivers, especially within
the LGBTQ plus community. According to a study by AARP, more than half of LGBTQ older adults report being socially isolated. Many LGBTQ adults are providing care or
likely to provide care in the future. Many LGBTQ plus caregivers fear emotionally stressed due to their caregiving responsibilities. Nearly half are extremely or very concerned about having adequate family and or social
supports as they age and more than a third are financially strained. To address these challenges, we at Ethos have created an LGBTQ plus caregivers support group. If you're interested in joining, please sign up in the lobby.
Your participation and support are crucial in building a stronger, more connected community. Thank you all for being here and for your continued support of Ethos and our mission. Together, we are making a difference in the lives of LGBTQ plus elders. It is
now my great honor to introduce a true champion of our community, someone who has shown unwavering support and dedication to our cause, Boston Mayor Michelle Woo. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much
for your leadership, Lauren. And I'm so happy to see you all. So happy. Okay. Please. Happy Pride to the most incredible, incredible community that we have here. Thank you to each and every one of you
for all that you do, all that you are, and all that you um give every day to the city in such a challenging time. I am incredibly honored and blessed every day to be able to go to work alongside the best team anywhere. Thank you to
Julianne who inspires me every day whose love for the city and service has I mean I I feel like we kind of grew up in this building together and now to um to feel the impact that you're having and to see
you um running the programs and outreach and organization and building up what we do in Boston trying to push us to even greater leads. Um thank you for everything. Thank you to your entire team as well.
Thank you to Commissioner Sheay. Emily, Emily and I are we're probably together like five at least five plus times a week trying to make sure that again in a very challenging time, the city of Boston is not going to let up on the services and the programs that we're providing. So, thank you for all that you've done for the city over many
years. as well. I want to give a shout out to um Chief of Equity Marangelis Cva who for some reason as usual is always in the back and never up in the front. Thank you for all that you do. Mari,
I know we heard earlier um as usual from the incredible Reverend Irene. Um thank you for your blessings and your leadership. Alex, also from the LGBTQIA+ Aging Project and our partners at Fenway
Health, and all of the partners who are in this room. Um, and you'll hear shortly from my friends and colleagues and the incredible leaders that we have on the Boston City Council, City Council at large, Henry Santana, and Madame President, City Council
President Ruen. So, I always love this event every year, but this year I feel really good because Meera is 5 months old. My husband Connor just took her somewhere, but Mera is 5 months old now, which if you do the math means that I don't know if I had shared
yet by this time last year, but I was incredibly uh dealing with morning sickness at this at this very event. I remember this year, no more morning sickness. Um, we are just all dealing with no more king sickness. I don't
know. I was trying. I don't know. Tossing that out there. It's going to last more than nine months. But as always, you all are my heroes. You are the bedrock of our community. You
heard just what your legacy means from our team members already. But to know that in this city we are standing on the shoulders of those who, you know, figuratively brick by brick and sometimes literally stone by stone um house by house, family by family have
made it possible for our community to be ourselves. Um we know the pressures that are bearing down on us from the rest of the world and the federal government in particular. Um, and there's just this what's been kind of sticking with me in
my head lately is, you know, we for a lot democracy is about having disagreement, right? It's about coming together to do the big things that none of us can do by ourselves. You know, none of us could just privately run a school or or, you
know, open a library system where all the things that are for the public good require all of us to come together. And they're big hard things sometimes that are about trade-offs, right? Do we take a green space that has been a public park um or or just been open space and
do we build housing on it because we badly need affordable housing, but then the next generation won't have the green space. And sometimes it's yes, sometimes it's no. And it's it's tough things that each generation kind of has to decide. And that's the point of government to have an air and have a space where we
talk about the places where we don't necessarily agree and try to find common ground and try to move forward. But more and more these days, the disagreement itself isn't about a vision of where we go or different paths or different alternate, you know, visions or or
choices. It's about the facts themselves, right? Who we are, who we are supposed to be, who belongs, who doesn't belong. And there's a lot of people right now tossing out a narrative about how cities are dangerous places
where too many people who represent all different things come together and therefore there's crime and this and that and the other. And the facts are that on the ground Boston is the safest major city in the country. And it's because we are safe for
everyone. It is because we have such strong programming that includes everyone. It is because we are focused every day on reaching the specific needs of every single community and embracing and welcoming every facet of our multi-layered identities. You all have
been building this city up for many, many years. And so when I think about Boston, when I think about cities, I feel an incredible joy. It's the vision of everyone we saw out at at Pride for the People over the weekend. It's the
vision of all of the events that we've been having. It's the moments, the small conversations, whether it's at the Pride in Hyde Park or a brunch that we're having here. Pride's in the house or moments in our schools and our classrooms. Cities are beautiful. Boston
is beautiful because you are Boston. So, thank you for being you. Thank you for making us who we are. We are never going to back down from that. So now I'd like to pass on to our city council president, Rudy Luen.
Good afternoon everybody. Happy Pride. I am so happy to be with all of you. I'm Rudy Luen at large city counselor and president of the Boston City Council. And it is a joy truly to be with all of
you. This is my first time at this event. And I think that this is my first time in a room with our older adults of the LGBTQ plus community. And I feel like that is a it is a it is
an overwhelming feeling. It is a powerful feeling. And I am grateful to all of you for welcoming me so lovingly into this space. And I'm grateful for ethos Lauren. I'm grateful for a strong commission. I know Michelle everyone on
the ethos team for pouring into this community and creating this space. I can't even imagine the stories, the struggles, the challenges, the heartbreaks, the discrimination that each of you carry in yourselves that
could teach me and my colleagues and all of us here so much about how we continue to build a Boston that is inclusive, that where everyone feels like they belong and where you can thrive and truly be who you are. And so I want to
say thank you um for all of the struggles that you've been through and continue to go through to make it easier for the next generation. Like four years ago, we didn't even have a mayor's office of LGBTQ plus advancement. We didn't have that. And it's because of
the work it's because of the work of so many of the people in this room to make it easier for the next person. That's what our role and our obligation is. everyone in your own struggle and in your own sense of of maybe not belonging, making
it easier the next day for the for the next person. And so I just want to thank you all. Like the mayor said, we stand collectively on your shoulders. We understand the work of intersectionality that none of us are free until all of us are free. And we do that we do that with joy,
right? Pride was beautiful on Saturday. The first pride was a riot. It was a fighting against police brutality, against lack of belonging, against discrimination. And so we hold space for joy and we hold space for that
resistance, right? No kings. Maybe a few queens, but no kings. We hold space for resistance even when in the moments of joy. I could not be happier to be doing this work alongside Council Santana who's been such a champion for our LGBTQ plus community.
We've done the work on the Boston City Council of making our bathroom gender neutral. We have Rainbow Crosswalks in the South End both doing the policy work and doing the work of of centering joy. So, thank you for being the teachers, the leaders, the healers, the resistors. I am grateful for all of your work.
Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. Happy Pride. My name is Henry Santana. I have the great honor of being one of your atlarge city councilors here in the city of Boston representing all of Boston. Let me not touch the mic. Right. All right. Um and I just wanted to come out here.
It's such an honor to represent you all. It's an honor to be here today. Um, as as uh council president u mentioned um you know this issue our LGBTQ plus community is something that I've taken personally. I in my first term right now I've wanted to um champion um this issue
um not just with um uh you know not just with with real policy work right there's a lot of policy work there's a lot of work to do. Um just a few weeks ago, I know some of you were here were at city hall. I hosted um a day of action at city hall starting with a reception. Um
then we followed with a city council presentation. Um we had a rally. We had over 300 people show up um on the city council chamber floor. Um and we also um you know as a council president mentioned four years ago we didn't have an office of LGBTQ plus. Um and just a
few weeks ago the Boston City Council codif codified the office. So, it is here to stay no matter who uh the mayor is. We have a a great mayor today. Um but no matter who's in leadership, we will have this office. Um we also just passed the city council budget u where
the uh it was already a great budget, but uh the city council passed amendments and included amendments for our LGBTQ plus office for our immigrant communities for things that we really care about and need right now. Right now, this community is being attacked on the federal government and right now
it's an IAR city council. I know my colleagues agree. We need to continue to fight. We need to continue to show up and there's a lot a lot of work that needs to be done. So, it's an honor to be here today. Happy Pride. Happy Junth to any everyone who celebrates as well. Right. And I love you all. It's an honor
to represent you all. And I don't know who I'm passing it to next. Okay. I'm going to pass it back to our beloved commissioner, Emily Shay. Thank you, counselor. I just wanted to quickly mention too that we had uh our
fabulous state representative Rob Consalo with us here before. I know he ran around and said hello to a lot of you. He had to scoot out for some votes. Um but we said we would give him a shout out from the mic. So, thank you. All right. Thank you everybody. I think we have some uh dancing to do. Is that
true? Yes, we do. You're on DJ. He wants cancer wants to do the first dance.