A Timeline of the LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference
1984 – About a dozen lawmakers gather to discuss the unique challenges of serving as openly gay elected officials. Attendee John Heilman, city council member of West Hollywood, described the gathering as “more like a support group.”
1985 – The conference is held in West Hollywood, California.
1986 – The conference is held in Washington, DC. A 24-year-old county supervisor from Wisconsin named Tammy Baldwin attends the conference for the first time, eager to learn from this network of openly LGBTQ+ officials. Sen. Baldwin has now served more than a decade on Capitol Hill as a representative and a senator.
1987 – The conference is held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1988 – The conference is held in San Diego, California
1989 – The conference is held in Madison, Wisconsin
1990 – The conference is held in Boston.
1991 – The International Conference of Openly Gay & Lesbian Elected and Appointed Officials is hosted by the Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus in Houston.
1992 – The conference is held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The National Network of Lesbian and Gay Officials sends a formal letter to President-elect Bill Clinton and Vice President-elect Al Gore to discuss “AIDS, violence against lesbian and gays, and discrimination in all areas especially in the military and in child custody disputes.” The International Network of Gay & Lesbian Elected officials determines that there are only 68 openly LGBTQ+ officials serving in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland and the United States.
1993 – The conference is held in Chicago, Illinois.
1994 – The tenth annual conference, held in Seattle, marks a monumental anniversary for LGBTQ+ elected officials. The conference has an estimated 200 attendees.
1995 – The conference is held in Toronto, Ontario (pictured). The Toronto Star reports on the conference, stating that the Victory Fund candidates have a 60 per cent success rate in their elections.
1996 – The conference is held in West Hollywood, California. Attendees from the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia attend.
1997 – The conference is held in Philadelphia.
1998 – The conference is held in Cathedral City, California.
1999 – The conference is held in Providence, Rhode Island.
2000 – The conference is held in Tempe, Arizona
2001 – The conference is held in Washington, DC.
2002 – The conference is held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2003 – The conference is held in San Diego, California.
2004 – The Gay & Lesbian Victory Foundation cosponsors the International Network of Lesbian & Gay Officials Conference for the first time. The 20th annual conference is held in New Orleans.
2005 – The conference is held in Seattle.
2006 – The conference is held in Houston. Annise Parker, then-controller of Houston, welcomes the conference to “Houston, the Big City with a Big Heart, the City of Opportunity.”
2007 – The conference is held in Las Vegas, NV.
2008 – The conference is held in Washington, DC.
2009 – The 25th International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference is held in San Francisco to honor the life of Harvey Milk. The International Network of Lesbian & Gay Officials has nearly 1,000 members worldwide.
2010 – The conference is held in Washington, DC. The program states that there are over 1,000 openly LGBTQ+ elected and appointed officials in the United States.
2011 – The conference is held in Houston, TX.
2012 – The conference is held in Long Beach, California. Senator-Elect Tammy Baldwin is spotlighted for being the first LGBTQ+ U.S. senator. John Heilman describes the event as “A great memory; everyone was in celebration. At the beginning, we never could have imagined such a win.”
2013 – The conference is held in Denver, CO.
2014 – The conference is held in Washington, DC.
2015 – The conference is held in Las Vegas, NV.
2016 – Coming back to Washington, DC, the conference attracted more than 500 participants including 141 LGBTQ+ elected officials. The conference began with a closed door session of more than 40 LGBTQ+ elected officials. There they strategized how LGBTQ+ elected officials should respond to the election of President Donald Trump.
2017 – The conference is held December 6-9 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC.
2018 – The conference is held December 5-8 at the JW Marriott in Washington DC. Our largest conference in history attracted more than 500+ participants including 160 LGBTQ+ elected officials. “Powering the Rainbow” was this year’s theme to reflect the big wins of of the 2018 midterm elections. The conference — which took place in Washington, DC — began with the first-ever International pre-conference Summit, along with a closed door session of more than 60 LGBTQ elected officials.
2019 – The conference is held November 13-16 at the JW Marriott in Washington DC. The event attracted more than 500+ participants including 180 LGBTQ+ elected officials. “Representation is Power” was this year’s theme to reflect the rising LGBTQ+ political power. The conference — which took place in Washington, DC — began with the International pre-conference Summit focused on “Populism vs. Democracy,” along with a closed door session of more than 80 LGBTQ+ elected officials.
2020 – The conference is held virtually for the first-time due to the COVID-19 pandemic from December 3-5. The conference attracted more than 1500+ participants from around the world.
2021 – The conference is organized in a hybrid format: both virtually and in-person at the JW Marriott in Washington DC from December 1-4.