A Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that works to empower LGBTQ-headed households will host its annual conference for the first time in person since the COVID-19 pandemic began, on Saturday, May 14 at Barrie School in Silver Spring, Md. 

Rainbow Families will host a daylong event —themed “Together Again”— that will feature informative workshops, community building activities and speakers such as Democratic state Sen. Zach Wahls from Iowa.

There will also be an award ceremony where CEO of Whitman-Walker Health Naseema Shafi will be named “Hero of the Year,” in recognition of her leadership and service to improving and growing health services for LGBTQ people in the D.C. area, according to a press release from the organization. 

Shafi will be the fourth recipient of the award, following past winners, including Michele Zavos, one of the organization’s founders, and Ellen Kahn, senior director of programs and partnerships at the Human Rights Campaign.

“[We choose] someone who has been instrumental in leadership and change, and [given] more hope and inspiration in the past year or so,” said Darren Vance, executive director of Rainbow Families. “While our lane is all things families, we also include trailblazers for helping expand our rights and our laws.”

The main attraction at the conference will be the educational seminars. There will be as many as 30 workshops that discuss timely LGBTQ issues such as parenting and legislation, including what the leaked draft opinion on the future of Roe v. Wade —a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects a woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction— could mean for the LGBTQ community.

Vance acknowledges that this topic is pertinent for discussion at the conference and it will be included in the opening ceremony. However, because the conference’s program was planned months ago and information about the fate of Roe v. Wade is new, reorganizing the conference to primarily focus on it would be challenging.

“We really plan to focus on that topic once we have all the information,” he said. “Everybody right now is seeing a barrage of news and social media posts about it and we want to be able to come at it with some real analysis.”

One of the educational seminars, however, will focus on the legal aspects of creating a family, and it will be led by Jennifer Fairfax, a Maryland-based adoption attorney who has worked on LGBTQ family planning. 

“She will certainly be incorporating [issues about same-sex marriage],” said Vance. 

With the conference just days away, Vance is focused on the LGBTQ community’s ability to gather and celebrate itself. However, he hopes for conference attendees to gain three things.

“I want them [to leave with] inspiration, togetherness and a feeling of empowerment,” he said.