SAGE and Fire Island Pines are different sides of the same coin. Both were created for and by LGBTQ+ people and their allies in response to a world that was often hostile to their existence. Their founders took risks and made sacrifices to create spaces where connection, safety, and identity could thrive. And both require nurturing and care to survive. At their core, they are both expressions of the same idea: community. Dino Georgiou, one of SAGE’s earliest supporters and former Treasurer of FIPPOA saw the connection early on and today it is one of the major philanthropic organizations supported by the Pines community.