Conference Special Guests
USA Prides National Conference
February 6–9, 2025
Atlanta, Georgia
As we approach our upcoming national conference in Atlanta, USA Prides is pleased to share a few updates regarding some of the special guests of our Welcome Reception and General Assemblies. More guests will be announced in the final weeks leading up to the conference, which takes place from February 6-9.
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Last updated: Jan. 17, 2025
The Hon. Stacey Abrams
USA Prides is excited and honored to welcome the Hon. Stacey Abrams to the stage at our upcoming conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Stacey Abrams (she/her) is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, producer, and political leader. She served eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as minority leader, and was the first Black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in United States history.
Dedicated to expanding possibility and progress for current and future generations, Stacey has founded several solution-driven entities spanning the impact, for-profit, and entertainment sectors. Stacey sits on both nonprofit and corporate boards and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Stacey will speak on democracy, LGBTQ+ rights, and the importance of staying involved — especially now.
Creator of Transgender Pride Flag to be special guest at Welcome Reception
Conference attendees who arrive early enough to join the Thursday evening Welcome Reception will be treated by a visit from special guest Monica Helms (she/her). Helms is best known for having created the Transgender Pride Flag in 1999. The flag is now on display in the Smithsonian. Helms co-founded the Transgender American Veterans Association in 2003 for better treatment for trans people in the VA. In 2004, she was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, the first trans person from Georgia to have this honor. She has written six fiction books and an autobiography.
Gabrielle Claiborne to speak Friday morning
We are excited to welcome Gabrielle Claiborne (she/her) as a keynote speaker during Friday's General Assembly. Claiborne's keynote is entitled Actively Contributing to Global 2SLGBTQIA+ Liberation. Gabrielle is Founder and CEO of Transformation Journeys Worldwide, an inclusion training and consulting firm with a transgender and gender-expansive focus. As an out and active transwoman since 2010, Gabrielle served as Executive Committee member with Atlanta Pride, as Co-Chair of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Trans & Gender Expansive (TGX) Initiative, as Co-Chair of the Atlanta LGBTQ Mayoral Advisory Council’s Trans Affairs Committee, as board member of the National LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, and currently serves as Chair of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association’s (IGLTA) Gender Diverse Travel Advisory Group, as Chair of the Out Georgia Business Alliance’s TGX360 Workplace and Entrepreneurship Initiative, and as board member of the Voices of Note.
Saturday Morning Political Panel
Saturday morning's General Assembly will include a speaker panel focused on discussing today's political climate within the context of issues most important to the LGBTQ+ community.
The panel consists of leaders within both government and grassroots advocacy organizations, including:
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State Senator Kim Jackson (she/her) was first elected to serve as the State Senator for Georgia's 41st Senate District in November 2020. Senator Jackson serves as a member on the Agricultural Affairs, Children and Families, Public Safety, and Health and Human Services committees. She is a nationally renowned consultant and preacher and currently serves as the Vicar at the Episcopal Church of the Common Ground in Atlanta, where she has worked extensively to aid people experiencing homelessness in downtown Atlanta. She lives with her wife in Stone Mountain, where they are stewards of a small hobby farm that hosts goats, ducks, honey bees, and chickens.
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State Representative Sam Park (he/him) was elected in 2016 and became the first Asian American Democrat and first openly gay man elected to the Georgia State Legislature. During his first term as a legislator, Sam introduced comprehensive civil rights legislation, co-sponsored legislation to expand Medicaid in Georgia and defeated discriminatory legislation targeted at minority communities. He serves as deputy whip in the Georgia House Democratic Caucus and as vice-chair for the Gwinnett State House Delegation.
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Jeff Graham (he/him) is the executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization that works to advance fairness, safety, and opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities throughout Georgia. Jeff Began advocating on LGBT and AIDS related issues as a college student in the mid-1980s and has continued his advocacy on these issues since that time. He has been involved in a wide variety of grassroots and legislative advocacy campaigns and over the past 30 years has served as either an executive director or board member to a number of local and national organizations working on issues related to gay and transgender rights, access to healthcare, community empowerment, and HIV/AIDS.
Drag Race star to host Saturday evening General Assembly
Phoenix, an international drag artist who competed on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3, will be performing at and hosting the Saturday evening General Assembly. Phoenix is a Georgia-born drag queen who first fell in love with drag after attending the Atlanta Pride festival and meeting her (now) drag grandmother, Shawnna Brooks. Phoenix is the founder of Phoenix Entertainment, a production company that produces a variety of events in Atlanta and around the United States. She also founded Dragnificent, a major drag competition that has been hosted in Atlanta for more than 15 years.
