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Joe Biden
He will receive the award at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute's International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference, the largest gathering of LGBTQ+ elected leaders held in Washington, D.C. annually.
Former President Joe Biden will be honored Friday with the Chris Abele Impact Award at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s 41st International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference, an annual Washington, D.C., gathering that has become both thermometer and barometer for the political fortunes of LGBTQ+ Americans.
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For Biden, who left office in January, the award marks a capstone in what LGBTQ+ advocates widely view as the most inclusive administration in U.S. history: one that appointed a record number of LGBTQ+ officials, reinstated and expanded federal protections, restored transgender military service, and elevated barrier-breaking queer and trans leaders such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Admiral Rachel Levine, Ambassador Chantale Wong, and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Related: Pete Buttigieg will be inducted into LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame at DNC (exclusive)
The moment arrives as LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans Americans, under the second administration of President Donald Trump, face accelerating political aggression, misinformation campaigns, and state-sanctioned erasure. And it comes as LGBTQ+ candidates and elected officials themselves enter the next cycle with what Victory Institute President and CEO Evan Low describes as a rare, almost paradoxical blend of “urgency and hope.”
“President Biden has shown unwavering commitment to ensuring LGBTQ+ people can participate fully and openly in our democracy,” Low said in announcing the award. The Institute’s board cited Biden’s “historic leadership on LGBTQ+ equality”—a standard made starker by the political environment in which this year’s conference unfolds.
In an interview with The Advocate, Low said the timing underscores a broader truth: the community is being targeted with “laser-focused” attempts to “legislate us out of existence,” even as LGBTQ+ leaders at every level of government run toward, not away from, the fight.
“You would imagine that people feel disenfranchised or at a loss,” he said. “Yet quite the contrary—our LGBTQ elected officials aren’t sitting on the sidelines. They’re leading the fight.”
More than 700 LGBTQ+ elected officials, advocates, and global human-rights leaders will gather from Thursday to Saturday for the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ political convening. The program features the breadth of LGBTQ+ power in 2025, including Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and prominent allies such as Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who is running for U.S. Senate. Authors Mary Trump, the president’s niece, and Stuart Milk, the nephew of legendary assassinated California politician Harvey Milk, are also expected to appear.
But what animates the conference is not only who holds office now — it’s who’s preparing to run next.
The 2024 election results in states like Virginia and New Jersey, where Democrats saw huge wins, Low said, have triggered a measurable surge in LGBTQ+ people seeking political training and contemplating bids for office. Victory’s candidate training programs, he noted, are seeing “two to three times” their typical demand.
He cited one example as emblematic: the organization’s first-ever training program exclusively for transgender candidates offered 15 slots and received nearly 65 applications.
“There’s this narrative that the LGBTQ community, particularly the trans community, is a political liability,” Low said. “In fact, we feel the contrary. They are assets. And we have the receipts to prove it.”
Low spoke with particular admiration about California U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the powerful House Oversight Committee, Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem, the first out trans person elected to a state legislature, and Delaware U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, the first out transgender person elected to Congress—leaders he said are reshaping the metrics by which LGBTQ+ officials are judged.
“What makes them successful is that they’re passionate about everyday issues,” he said. “They elevate democracy, infrastructure, housing affordability—not just LGBTQ+ rights—and they do it while being proud, openly LGBTQ leaders.”
This, he argued, is what makes LGBTQ+ visibility politically durable: authenticity paired with competence on the issues that govern daily American life.
Related: Sarah McBride explains how Democrats’ ‘big tent is bisexual’
LGBTQ+ candidates, he said, are confronting unprecedented levels of harassment, doxxing, and threats to themselves and their families.
Victory Institute, in response, has expanded its professional development support to include mental health services and counseling. “These are significant barriers to entry,” he said. “We want to ensure people know how to grapple with what is before them.”
Biden’s recognition comes as at least 80 out LGBTQ+ candidates have already filed to run for federal office in the 2026 cycle—a historic figure that Victory officials expect to climb.
Related: Democrat Sarah McBride on her approach to expanding trans acceptance in Congress — and America
Low said Biden’s recognition is part of a broader realignment: LGBTQ+ inclusion at the highest levels of government, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has become an expectation rather than a novelty.
“We’ve reached a pivotal moment in American history,” he said. “It is in the best interest of any administration to ensure LGBTQ voices are present at the highest levels.”
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