Brian Sims

🏳️‍⚧️HEY, ARIZONA! I’M COMING BACK! 🏳️‍🌈Equality Arizona has been doing the hard, necessary work of building power and protecting our community in one of the toughest political environments in the country. I’m honored to join them as keynote speaker for the 2026 Gala.

Hope has never been passive for us. It’s been organizing, showing up, and refusing to back down, even when it’s dangerous to be visible. That’s what this gala is about, and that’s what I’ll be talking about.

Grab your tickets and bring someone who needs to be reminded that this fight is still worth showing up for.

We're thrilled to announce that Brian Sims will be joining us as a keynote speaker at Equality Arizona's 2026 Annual Gala: Hope Will Never Be Silent!

A nationally recognized civil rights advocate, former Pennsylvania state representative, and unwavering champion for LGBTQ+ equality, Brian has spent his career fighting for justice, dignity, and the power of community. We can't wait to hear his inspiring vision for the future of our movement.

Tickets are on sale now! Grab yours today, invite your friends who believe in equality, justice, and community, and join us for an evening of inspiration, celebration, and hope.

Because hope will never be silent—and neither will we.

📶🗣️AND THAT’S A WRAP🗣️📶: This week I led advocacy and leadership training at United Pride Alliance’s annual meeting in West Hollywood, then walked straight into D26 (Diversity26). The room was packed with meeting planners, their clients, and the professional associations who actually decide what gets booked and where.

Here’s the pitch I gave them: you don’t need new skills to be a great advocate. You need training on how to use the ones you already have, for yourself first, and then for everyone standing near you.

The lawyer already knows how to make an argument land. Nobody ever showed her how to make it for her own seat at the table. The procurement lead already knows exactly where a single sentence in a contract changes what a vendor can and can’t do. Nobody connected that skill to protecting the colleague who isn’t in the room to protect themselves. The association exec sets the criteria that moves an entire industry’s money, every single day, and never once thought of that as advocacy. It is. It’s some of the most powerful advocacy there is.

That’s the gap. Not skill. Training. And it’s completely closable, if someone shows up ready to do the work.

Two days, one hotel, a lot of very capable people who left knowing exactly where to point what they already had.

If your people are ready for that same conversation, please find me because I am, too!

Thanks to UPA, ConferenceDirect and Justin Collins!

Lyndsay Graham died last night.

🏳️‍⚧️👨🏽‍⚕️LGBTQ+ HEALTH CARE👩🏻‍⚕️🏳️‍🌈: Yesterday I had the honor of closing out Pride Month programming at Lenox Hill Hospital with a keynote for the Northwell Health team called “Stories That Shape Care: LGBTQ+ Voices, Listening, and Better Outcomes.”

The premise: listening to q***r patients isn’t just good values. It produces measurably better clinical outcomes. This room already understood that. My job was to give them real numbers, sharper language, and new tools to keep doing it even better.

Thank you to Dr. Daniel Baker for leading an institution that earns its reputation every day. And thank you to Bill Self, a pillar of New York City’s LGBTQ+ community for decades, for making this happen.

This is year round work. Pride Month ends. It doesn’t.

Hey Arizona, I’m coming back in November with my friend Col. Bree Fram for Equality Arizona’s Annual Gala and I sure hope you can join us!

Join us for Equality Arizona’s Annual Gala.

This event is dedicated to community, resilience, and the unwavering belief that hope will never be silenced, inspired by the enduring words of Harvey Milk. At a time when LGBTQ+ Arizonans continue to face unprecedented challenges, this event is more than a celebration—it is a call to action. Our gala brings together community leaders, advocates, and allies to uplift the work happening on the ground and to invest in a future where all Arizonans can live freely and authentically.

Celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities across Arizona with an evening of connection, stories, and shared commitment to justice and belonging.

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW! Reserve your seat, invite a friend, and be part of a night that affirms every person’s right to live openly and safely.

Tickets: https://bit.ly/4uSPE6y or at link in bio.