ABOVE: Photo via ILGA World.
ILGA World announced Nov. 10 that its conference that had been scheduled to take place this month in Long Beach, Calif., will now happen in May.
“Our World Conference will be going ahead, and the health, safety and well-being of all will be at the highest priority,” said ILGA World Co-Secretaries General Luz Elena Aranda and Tuisina Ymania Brown in a press release. “In such a challenging moment in history, it is more important than ever that our communities from around the world have a shared and safe space to come together, reconnect, and move forward.”
The 2022 ILGA World Conference, which the It Gets Better Project will host, will take place at the Westin Long Beach from May 2-6. Organizers last November announced they had postponed it because of the pandemic.
Registration for the conference is now open. ILGA World in its press release said “more details about all safety measures” surrounding COVID-19 “are forthcoming.”
“We are thankful for all those who submitted proposals for thematic pre-conferences, and we will be able to announce them soon”, said ILGA World Executive Director Julia Ehrt. “As the program of our World Conference develops, we will continue to look into ways to ensure the largest possible participation from our members and LGBTI communities from across the world—including in digital ways.”
LGBTQ rights groups in the U.S. and around the world have begun to hold in-person events as COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to increase and more countries begin to lessen travel restrictions.
More than 1,000 activists from around the world attended the WorldPride 2021 Human Rights Conference that took place in Denmark and Sweden in August. The National LGBTQ Task Force’s annual Creating Change conference is scheduled to take place in person in January in New Orleans.
