World’s Largest LGBTQ+ Youth Conference to Relaunch in Connecticut
Anthony DiLizia • February 16, 2024
World’s Largest LGBTQ+ Youth Conference to Relaunch in Connecticut
Manchester, CT (February 16, 2024) A group of committed volunteers has announced the
re-establishment of the True Colors Conference, a national event focusing on LGBTQ+ youth
issues. The perennial favorite of LGBTQ+/Ally youth as well as youth-serving professionals has
been on hiatus since COVID struck, but will return in March 2025 to the University of
Connecticut (UCONN) in Storrs, CT.
In 1994, True Colors, Inc. first presented their landmark conference. By 2020, the transformative
two-day event became the world’s largest LGBTQIA+ youth conference, drawing more than
3,000 high school and college students, educators, clinicians, and family members from
Connecticut and 18 other states. Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference
took a hiatus and the organization subsequently dissolved.
“Today, many Connecticut organizations have stepped up to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ youth
and they’re doing a great job”, McHaelen says the retired True Colors Inc, executive director.
“But people continued to tell me how important the conference was and how its absence is
affecting kids, because nothing comparable has emerged (since the closing of True Colors).
Everyone kept asking ‘how can we fill that gap?’. That question was literally taking over my
dreams! After a recent social media poll, it was clear that there was an appetite to bring the
conference back.” Zoe Donnellycolt, a recent MSW graduate from the UCONN School of Social
Work, said, “ I grew up going to True Colors with my parents. I remember thinking that the
conference was a truly unique opportunity for teenagers in Connecticut… (and) how lucky I was
to be able to attend it. With all the fear I felt growing up, celebrating and dancing were unique
moments of relief. My memory of the joy, pride, and empowerment I witnessed and
experienced at True Colors was an anchor of hope for my future…”
Longtime conference volunteer Matthew Wallace agrees. “The TC Conference is needed now
more than ever. With hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives across the country - including
Connecticut - LGBTQ+ youth are under attack. The steady stream of vitriol toward transgender
and non-binary youth in particular is taking a terrible toll on them and their families. They need
a safe space where they can connect, create community, learn from local and national experts –
particularly experts with lived experience.
McHaelen added, “We’re honored that The Health Collective has agreed to serve as our
fiduciary, allowing us to raise the funds we need to run the conference in 2025 - and rebuild the
infrastructure to ensure that it will keep going.” David Grant, Executive Director of the Health
Collective, mirrored this sentiment. “Throughout the Health Collective’s history, we have
witnessed the profound impact that the True Colors Conference has had on the LGBTQIA+
community,” Grant said. “It is an honor to recommit the Health Collective to this cause,
particularly at a time when loneliness is becoming an epidemic in America. I want to extend our
deepest gratitude to Robin McHaelen and the conference relaunch committee for allowing us to
be a part of this journey.”
Veteran volunteer Barbara Curry, noted, “It takes an army of volunteers to make this conference
a success. We’re forming teams now to handle all aspects of organizing - operational, marketing,
fundraising, inclusivity and workshop selections.” Interested volunteers can get more
information and/or sign onto the email list at www.RobinMcHaelen.com
