For the third year, Greater Fort Lauderdale will host the longest-running transgender conference in the United States, the Southern Comfort Transgender Conference, fromĀ September 6-8, 2018.
THE conference will welcome hundreds of attendees for a series of workshops, seminars, and networking events, hosted at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Activities during the conference will include legal and medical presentations, as well as informative sessions on family, relationships, and sexuality.
During the conference, participants will have the chance to experience Greater Fort Lauderdaleās stunning natural scenery, exciting nightlife, and exquisite dining.
Richard Gray, Vice President of LGBT+ for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, said:Ā āWe are proud to welcome back the Southern Comfort Transgender Conference to our sunny shores.Ā
āGreater Fort Lauderdale is committed to inclusion and equality, and we are continuously working to reach the transgender communities to show them we are a destination that is diverse, welcoming, authentic and accepting.ā
OnĀ Thursday, September. 6, fromĀ 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., The South Florida Transgender Medical Consortium, a collaborative partner with the Southern Comfort Transgender Conference, will host an in-depth professionalsā training program geared towards medical and mental health practitioners, and nursing and medical students, as well as their support staff. This part of the conference is free, and registration for this day will be available onsite.
The remaining two days of the conference require registration. To register, click here:
OnĀ Friday, Sepember. 7, Marie Trottier, policy advisor at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will also speak to conference attendees. She recently helped develop a video focused on helping transgender travellers through the security screening process and letting them know what to expect.
OnĀ Saturday, September. 8, the keynote speaker will be Gia Gunn, a transgender activist, entertainer, TV personality and contestant on Season 6 of RuPaulās Drag Race. She will be speaking about pressing issues addressing the transgender community.
āWe are looking forward to returning to Greater Fort Lauderdale ā from the hotels to the cuisine to the nightlife, our attendees have been wowed every step of the way,ā said Lexi Dee, President of Southern Comfort Transgender Conference. āOur partnership with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau continues to grow each year as we work together to support our common interests and provide invaluable resources for the transgender community.ā
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The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau has been welcoming LGBT+ travellers since 1996 when it became the first Convention & Visitors Bureau with a dedicated LGBT+ marketing department. Since then, the city has continued to break down barriers and facilitate visibility for the LGBT+ community at large, acting as a pioneer in the hospitality industry and ensuring that the destination is inclusive and welcoming with a diverse, safe and open community for all travellers.
On January 9, 2017, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau launched a new global marketing and advertising campaign featuring transgender models, making it the worldās first destination to use transgender models in mainstream destination advertising. The campaign, which also features straight, gay and lesbian models, follows the destinationās long and documented history in LGBT+ marketing.
Most recently, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County opened the areaās first LGBT+ Visitor Center in Wilton Manors, Broward Countyās gay-centric district with the destinationās largest concentration of gay residents and businesses. It is located atĀ 2300 NE 7th AvenueĀ in Wilton Manors.
Greater Fort Lauderdale is also home to one of the largest Pride Centers in the country, the world’s first AIDS museum, the global headquarters of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, and the Stonewall Museum, one of the only permanent spaces in the U.S. devoted to exhibitions relating to LGBT+ history and culture.
Each year, Greater Fort Lauderdale welcomes an estimated 1.5 million LGBT+ visitors who spend $1.5 billion annually.
For more information about LGBT+ Fort Lauderdale, click here:
For more information and to register for the Southern Comfort Transgender Conference, click here:
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