LGBTQ+ leaders and candidates from around the world packed the JW Marriott Ballroom in Washington, D.C., on Friday to celebrate former President Joe Biden’s decades-long commitment to LGBTQ+ equality and confront a political climate in which that progress is suddenly under threat.
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Biden’s attendance at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s 2025 International LGBTQ+ Leadership Conference, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ political gathering, was history-making. The first current or past president to speak before an audience of more than 550 people at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute received the organization’s highest honor, the Chris Abel Impact Award, making him the third recipient in the institute’s history. And for many in the audience, it felt like more than just an awards ceremony. It felt like the moment I came back.
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“Now is not the time to give up,” Biden told the audience. “It’s time to stand up – stand up and fight back.” He saw the moment as one of the great consequences of democracy. “We believe in the power of democracy to unite our country,” he said, warning that “as we see everything coming out of this reactionary White House, it is imperative that LGBTQ+ Americans and their allies stand firm.”
Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, federal agencies have targeted LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender Americans, through sweeping policy shifts across the government. Biden saw these actions as an attack on the very American ideals of dignity, equality, and denial of opportunity promised in the Constitution.
“America is the only country founded on an idea,” he said. “We hold these truths to be self-evident…all people are created equal and all deserve to be treated with dignity throughout their lives.” Although the country has not always achieved that ideal, “we have never strayed from it,” he said.
He warned that the current administration is using fear and misinformation as weapons to pit Americans against each other. Biden said Republicans are using LGBTQ+ people as a “political football” to divide the country.
A challenging speech in a turbulent year
Biden’s speech was part celebration, part warning.
He looked back on 2012 meet the press She supports marriage equality and spoke about the love she’s seen from LGBTQ+ families over the years. “I couldn’t stay silent anymore,” he said. “I announced my support for same-sex marriage a little earlier than some people expected.”
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He then told a story he shared in the interview, about speaking with LGBTQ+ leaders one night at a private home. A man asked him, “What do you think of us?” Biden said he responded by naming the couple’s two young sons. “I wish every American could see the love for their father in the eyes of these two boys,” he said. “If they did, they wouldn’t have any questions about what this is all about.”
“But a lot has been lost in the noise,” he says. “Fundamental identities are being turned into political footballs,” he said, warning that LGBTQ+ young people today sit alone behind closed doors, staring at the ceiling and wondering, “Will we ever be loved? Will we be cherished? Will we ever have a family? Will we ever be truly accepted for who we are?” His message to them was a compassionate one: “Be yourself. You are loved. You belong.”
He accused President Trump and the MAGA Republican Party of trying to “distort and derail our fight for equality” and turn LGBTQ+ equality into something “horrible and evil.” But at its core, he said, equality is about the simplest thing: “ensuring that all Americans are treated…with basic decency, dignity and respect.”
And he linked LGBTQ+ rights to broader economic equity. “It’s about making sure every American can go home at the end of the day and look their child in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s okay.'”
“It takes courage” for them to run for office and expose themselves and their families to scrutiny and attack, Biden said. “Everyone deserves it,” he said. “everyone.”
‘I miss his kindness’: Attorney General says Biden’s presence was a painkiller
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who warned in an earlier panel that the U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready to revisit marriage equality, said Biden’s arrival brought something to her that she hadn’t felt in months.
“I’m going to miss him,” Nessel said. defender After his speech. “I miss his kindness. I miss having a president who loved the whole country, not just one part of the country.”
Related: Joe Biden receives highest honor at LGBTQ+ Leadership Conference for his contributions to equality
Hawaii Attorney General Ann Lopez said Biden’s presence stands in stark contrast to today’s political climate. “We now have a president who is a bully,” she said. defender. “It’s so great to have a guy who respects all of us. He’s really motivating.”
The moment was deeply personal for Gina Ortiz Jones, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, who was deputy secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration.
“President Biden is very special to me,” she said, recalling her years in the House. “Don’t ask, don’t tell. “He knocked down these doors when people weren’t ready.” She credits Biden with elevating the ranks of LGBTQ+ service members long before it was politically safe.
Current Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau said Biden’s return to the LGBTQ+ political scene was unexpectedly moving.
“It’s probably going to be more meaningful than ever,” he said. “It’s easy to forget that 11 months ago, we had a president who stood shoulder to shoulder with gay people…He believed we should be represented in his administration.” Seeing Biden again “reminds us that we can have a president who believes in our place in American society, that we’re here not just to exist, but to contribute.”
Victory Institute: A global LGBTQ+ political influencer
The 2025 Conference, which runs through Saturday, brought together more than 700 LGBTQ+ elected officials, political leaders and human rights advocates from around the world. The Victory Institute, which hosts this event, has become one of the most influential LGBTQ+ political institutions around the world. Its mission is simple and ambitious. That means training, supporting, and mobilizing LGBTQ+ people to run for office and lead. Alumni include some of the most historic figures in American politics, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Delaware Representative Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person in Congress, and California Representative Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.
The organization is also playing a key role ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, which could reshape LGBTQ+ political power in key state legislative and congressional races. This year’s conference featured notable speakers including Governor Janet Mills of Maine, Representative Mark Takano of California, Attorney General Chris Mays of Arizona, Attorney General Dana Nessel of Michigan, Attorney General Ann Lopez of Hawaii, and mayors such as Gina Ortiz Jones of San Antonio and Todd Gloria of San Diego.
The institute also inducted new members into its Hall of Fame, including former West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman and Carla Antonelli, the first trans woman elected to the Spanish Senate.
said Eric Chan, a Democrat running for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District. defender He said Biden’s appearance underscored the strength and visibility of the LGBTQ+ political community. “It’s very powerful to see a former president come to this event,” he said. “Having a former president recognize how important this coalition is is an important milestone.”
Biden’s legacy includes historic levels of LGBTQ+ representation
Victory Institute highlighted that the Biden administration has set records for LGBTQ+ acceptance. Nearly 15% of Biden’s appointees identify as LGBTQ+, far more than the previous administration. They include former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Jonathan Lovitz, the Biden-appointed senior vice president for human rights campaigns and public affairs at the Commerce Department, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Admiral Rachel Levine and Ambassador Chantale Wong. Beyond representation, the administration restored and expanded federal civil rights protections, repealed the transgender military service ban reinstated by President Trump, strengthened anti-discrimination provisions in employment and health care, and expanded protections for LGBTQ+ youth and families.
Biden ended his speech with a characteristic sense of urgency and optimism. Quoting his “friend Sarah McBride,” he said, “Hope is a conscious choice. We have to summon it.” He said America is “not a fairy tale,” but it has emerged from every crisis “stronger, smarter and more resilient” for 250 years.
“We have no choice but to stand up,” he said. “Remember who we are: We are the United States of America…and when we act together, nothing is beyond our ability.”
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