History of LGBTQ Real Estate Conference & 2023 Date Reveal

 In NAGLREP Media

Trade conferences are a vital part of the real estate industry. Local and national conferences offer opportunities for real estate professionals to network with their peers, and get updated on technology and trends that impact the real estate industry. The bottom line is these events often enable real estate businesses to become more profitable.

NAGLREP was founded in 2007 as the first LGBTQ Real Estate trade organization specifically designed to represent the nation’s LGBTQ realtor community. Since it was created, NAGLREP has a history of breaking down barriers and expanding opportunities for LGBTQ real estate professionals and it’s allies.

From its beginnings in 2007, NAGLREP founder Jeff Berger traveled the country attending local and national real estate conferences and hosted LGBTQ realtor events, providing networking,  education, and advocacy opportunities for gay, lesbian, and allied real estate colleagues. NAGLREP was a prominent presence during the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) annual conventions between 2007 and 2019, in addition to the national conferences of many of the national real estate brands, and local and state REALTOR Association conferences. 

By 2014, NAGLREP’s membership numbers had grown substantially through word of mouth. The NAGLREP referral network offered LGBTQ realtors with an important platform to work together in building their respective businesses, while the NAGLREP.com website enabled LGBTQ home buyers and sellers to connect with LGBTQ real estate professionals who understood their distinctive needs and concerns within the housing market. Plus, NAGLREP, the organization successfully brought forward the proposals to the National Association of REALTORS to amend its code of ethics to include sexual orientation and gender identity. 

At this point, it was decided that NAGLREP would host its own annual event, marking the first time that an LGBTQ-focused real estate trade association produced a national event.

NAGLREP’s first annual conference was held in 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Hosting the event in “Florida’s LGBTQ Capital” was a tribute to city’s historic commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion – lest we forget, Fort Lauderdale has been home to the Stonewall National Museum & Archives, which is informally known as the “LGBTQ Smithsonian,” and the World AIDS Museum.

The 2014 conference featured an in-person address by Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Leonard Keifer and a special videotaped address by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro.

After the first day of Keynotes and breakout education sessions, we explored the Fort Lauderdale Intracoastal during our Cruise Night Out, aka our Coming Out party!





NAGLREP returned to Fort Lauderdale for its 2015 conference, and the keynote speaker for that event was Jim Obergefell, who changed the course of history earlier that year with his quest for equality and justice – he arrived at the conference shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage.

After another annual conference in Fort Lauderdale in 2016, NAGLREP headed west in 2017 to hold its annual conference in 2017 in Palm Springs, California, one of the most supportive and welcoming communities to the LGBTQ population in North America – indeed, in 2018 Palm Springs made history when residents elected a city council where every member was LGBTQ.

NAGLREP’s national conference was an annual event in Palm Springs from 2017 through 2019, and the event attracted a number of prominent figures including U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, activist and AIDS Memorial Quilt conceiver Cleve Jones, past HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride, JoDee Winterhof, HRC’s senior vice president of policy and political affairs, past NGLCC Senior Vice President Jonathan Lovitz, Drew Griffin’s PFLAG who entered a partnership with NAGLREP to showcase the emotional and financial benefits of LGBTQ homeownership and to raise awareness for the Equality Act, and Judy and Dennis Shepard, the parents of the late Matthew Shepard who created a foundation in his name dedicated to offering education and advocacy for LGBTQ rights and universal tolerance. The Matthew Shepard Foundation has become one of the major organizations supported by NAGLREP, with a percentage of each national conference’s proceeds being donated to help fund its work.






The in-person national conference was put on hold in 2020 and 2021 due to health concerns, but in 2022, NAGLREP returned to live events with its LGBTQ Real Estate Retreat in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This event reinvented the concept of the annual conference – the networking and educational sessions were important for the LGBTQ real estate professionals who had not been able to meet in person for two years, but the laid-back vibe of the sunny and warm Mexican resort’s cozy venues brought out a more relaxed vibe than one usually experiences in the traditional hotel ballroom or conference room settings.




















And a first at NAGLREP, Jason Ladeira and Mike Sanderson got engaged! Congratulations!!




For 2023, NAGLREP will be bringing its annual conference back to Puerto Vallarta September 26-28  Click Here to Register Now

 

   

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