Thank you to all of the #IGLTA2018 participants who have provided feedback on this year's Annual Global Convention, our most successful conference to date. We'll use this valuable information to create even more targeted content and networking opportunities for next year. The survey will close at 5pm ET on 22 June, so there's still a little more time to fill it out if you haven't already. Of course, you may respond anonymously, but if you choose to submit your name, you'll have the chance to win a free registration to our 36th Annual Global Convention in New York City (24-27 April, 2019)! If you need the link to the survey, please email convention@iglta.org.
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Please join us in supporting the small business members of IGLTA, such as Dana Hotel and Spa, a luxury boutique hotel tucked away in Chicago that evokes a vibe that isn't about seeing and being seen — only about living in the moment; and Uniglobe Kentlands Travel, Metro-DC's premiere full-service travel agency, bringing you the highest quality in corporate and leisure travel planning.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
The second edition of the Forum de Turismo LGBT do Brasil was held in Sao Paulo on 5 June, bringing together nearly 250 travel professionals for a full day of education, workshops, panel discussions and networking. Created in 2017 by IGLTA Media Partner ViaG, the Forum invited world-class destinations and global travel brands to present market data and share best practices for marketing to LGBTQ travelers. The program covered a diverse range of topics, including LGBTQ family travel, lesbian travel and event-related travel.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
The Greater Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area opened its first-ever LGBT+ visitor center dedicated to showcasing attractions of interest to the community on Thursday.
The new center, a joint venture between the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce, is located in Wilton Manors, which is home to the region’s largest concentration of gay residents and businesses.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
Taking care of every single American traveling abroad is just another day at the office for Karen Christensen, the U.S. State Department's deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizen Services. It's a long title that she shortens to "mom to the world," since her office is the first to respond to American citizens facing any kind of crisis around the world, be it an individual arrest, natural disaster, or terrorist attack.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
Alderney's first same-sex marriage has taken place this afternoon, after the legislation came into effect earlier this week.
Dits Preece and Allen Jones tied the knot at their home in Platte Saline.
The newlywed couple then led a cavalcade of cars around the island in an open top Voltswagen Beetle as those in town cheered and serenaded them.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
Ahmed Alaa describes raising a rainbow flag at a crowded concert in Cairo last September as "the best moment" of his life. In photos from the event, he looks ecstatic as he waves the flag in the spotlights of the outdoor stage hosting the Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou' Leila. He posted the photos on Facebook, and others did too. The next morning, he woke up to death threats.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
Poland's supreme court has ruled against a print shop employee who refused to print banners for an LGBT business group because he did not want to "promote" the gay rights movement.
The country's top court said it was upholding the ruling of a lower court. The regional court in Lodz had argued the principle of equality before the law meant the printer did not have the right to withhold services from the LGBT Business Forum.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
Thousands of activists have marched in Ukraine's capital, marking an annual celebration of gay and lesbian rights that has been marred by violence in the past.
The 17 June March of Equality in Kyiv, which took place amid an increased police presence, was one of the largest such events staged in Ukraine in years.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
Canada's top court has ruled in favour of denying accreditation to a Christian law school that banned students from having gay sex.
Friday's ruling against Trinity Western University in British Columbia (BC) was closely watched by both religious freedom and gay rights advocates.
The university made students promise not to have extra-marital or gay sex.
The Supreme Court found that protecting LGBT students from discrimination trumped religious freedom.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
The Australian state of Queensland has overturned the convictions of men who had consensual adult gay sex before such acts were decriminalized. Consensual gay sex was a crime in Queensland until 1991, when the state government voted to decriminalize it. However, convictions received before that date have remained on police records, causing potential hardship for those with criminal records under the old laws.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
On Monday, 11 June, California's State Senate and Assembly recognized Palm Springs for electing the nation's first all-LGBT city council.
Since December 2017, one month after November's municipal elections, Palm Springs' council has consisted of three gay men, a transgender woman and a bisexual woman: Mayor Robert Moon, Mayor Pro Tem J.R. Roberts, and Councilmembers Geoff Kors, Lisa Middleton and Christy Holstege respectively.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
When you are a refugee, you learn all about the hierarchy of compassion. There are the people from war-torn countries — refugees from humanitarian catastrophes so enormous that they upend the world's imagination, such as those who have escaped from Syria. There are people who have fled a sudden campaign of violence and hatred, such as the gay men who have been escaping from Chechnya for the past year.
20 Jun 2018 15:36:43 CDT
