Request For Proposals 

The conference planning committee is accepting proposals to present at the 2SLGBTQ+ Meaningful Care Conference. Please submit your proposal by December 31, 2025.

The 2026 Conference theme is Creative Resistance: Community Power through Community Care. Proposals must be submitted by the end of the day on Wednesday, December 31st, 2025. You can submit a proposal at this link.

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Submit your Proposal

The 2026 Meaningful Care Conference is the effort of a group of 2SLGBTQ+ focused community programs and individuals who have joined together to promote cultural competency for healthcare and social service providers working with members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. It is the intention that the knowledge shared at this conference will improve health care provision, utilization, satisfaction, and outcomes for 2SLGBTQ+ consumers through expanding access to culturally competent care. 

The conference continues to be one of the largest 2SLGBTQ+ cultural competency trainings for medical and social service providers on the West Coast, with over 400 attendees biannually. The 2026 Meaningful Care Conference is coordinated by Black and Beyond the Binary Collective and a planning committee that represents organizations and community members across Oregon. For more information on the conference, please see our website: https://meaningfulcare.org/.  

The 2026 Meaningful Care Conference is Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

 The day-long conference seeks to:

  • Promote Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, + cultural competency in health care and social services

  • Share updated best practice applications of 2SLGBTQ+ cultural competency in health care

  • Develop and diversify networks of 2SLGBTQ+ culturally competent health care and social service providers

  • Provide a space for community and resiliency while empowering community to advocate and influence policy

 Attendees will include medical care, social service, and allied health providers; city and county health officials; students of healthcare and social services; and a diverse array of 2SLGBTQ+ community members. We are seeking a variety of beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level presentations and workshops.

Presentations should relate to the 2026 Conference Theme: Creative Resistance: Community Power through Community Care.

 Special consideration will be given to presentations that focus on one of the following topics:

  • Older 2SLGBTQ+ adults

    • Gender-affirming care

    • Senate Bill 99 and other policies related to older 2SLGBTQ+ adults

    • Specific healthcare considerations

    • End of life planning

  • 2SLGBTQ+ youth

    • Gender-affirming care

    • Support for parents and caregivers of trans and gender nonconforming youth

    • Reproductive health and age of consent (HB 2002)

    • Youth rights

  • Legal and political landscape for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and communities

    • Supreme court decisions

    • State legislation

    • Understanding where we are currently and what we might be able to expect

    • Impacts of HR1

    • Impacts on immigrant communities

  • Gender-affirming hormone therapy

    • Foundational content to support clinicians who are new to prescribing or would like to prescribe gender-affirming hormone therapy

    • Case-based discussion or new clinical practice updates for providers who are more experienced in prescribing gender-affirming hormone therapy

  • Demographic data collection and protections

    • Best or promising practices for collecting this information from patients and clients, particularly those in rural communities and immigrant communities

    • State efforts to protect this information

    • How this information will be used by the state and other agencies

  • Mental health

    • Psychedelics

  • Substance use 

    • Treatment options

    • Peer support and navigation

    • Impacts of recriminalization   

  • Community care

    • How to build and support community

    • How to support 2SLGBTQ+ individuals in rural and/or conservative areas

Criteria for rating proposals include: 

  • What you plan to do is clear and the goals set up for the session are possible

  • Information you plan to share can be taken into healthcare and social service settings

  • Session is related to theme of the conference and can be used in a variety of settings

  • Session considers the wide variety of 2SLGBTQ+ community and their health care concerns 

 Conference fees will be waived for presenters. The deadline for proposal submission is Wednesday, December 31st, 2025.

Please contact Rachel Greim at rgreim@orpca.org or 971-373-5365 (call or text), with any questions regarding proposal submission. 

Click here to access the Proposal Form to SUBMIT TODAY!

Submit your Proposal
Download Info document

*Language is nuanced and the planning committee acknowledges that the acronym 2SLGBTQ+ is limiting as language and identity continues to evolve.  By adding a + symbol we hope to be inclusive of all terms one may use to self-identify.  Beginning in 2020, the committee chose to include Two Spirit to elevate Native American Indian/Alaska Native voices and recognize the systematic erasure of non-binary identity from Tribal communities.

100% of registration fees are being collected by Black and Beyond the Binary Collective to offset the material costs of the event.  Collaborating organizations do not receive any of the proceeds of this event.