IU School of Medicine cancels annual LGBTQ+ conference

The Indiana University School of Medicine has canceled its annual LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference, posting the change in a brief note on the event’s webpage.

“Due to emerging circumstances, we are unable to move forward with the LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference as planned in April 2025,” the statement said Friday morning. The statement was changed later in the day to simply say the event had been canceled.

The virtual conference included “health care professionals, learners, researchers, patients, community organizations and interested community members who seek to understand the unique health considerations and barriers to health care in the LGBTQ+ population,” according to the event page.

The conference began in 2017 as a single-day event but was expanded to two days.

When asked about the cancelation, the school responded with another brief statement: “The IU School of Medicine LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference has been canceled,” spokesperson Katie Duffey wrote in an email.

IU’s decision comes as governments, nonprofit organizations, universities and even private companies are grappling with how to handle issues related to diversity—including LGBTQ issues—in light of President Donald Trump’s hostility toward diversity, equity and inclusion programs. This week, he ordered a freeze on the release of all federal government loans and grants while the administration reviewed whether the spending complied with executive orders the president has issued since taking office. Those orders including efforts to remove protections for transgender people and end DEI efforts.

Trump later rescinded that order. But several organizations have told IBJ that they are nervous about what could happen to their funding under the new administration.

The university did not provide a reason why the conference was canceled. And IU officials did not make any connection between the conference and Trump’s actions.

Chris Geidner, an attorney who writes the Law Dork blog, posted this week that on Monday he had been invited to be a keynote speaker at the event only to be told Wednesday that the event was canceled. He wrote that the conference had been planned for April 23-24.

In his blog post, Geidner said he was also told the school was canceling the event “due to multiple emerging factors and circumstances beyond the control of the Indiana University School of Medicine.”

“Of course, we all know what happened,” Geidner said. “Donald Trump is president, and he is empowering his people to disempower anyone not like him.”

Indiana lawmakers have similarly banned gender-affirming care for minors. In November, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Indiana’s ban on such care would stay in place, reversing a district court’s order that would have prevented the state’s law from going into effect.

In years past, the IU School of Medicine touted the conference and its leadership in LGBTQ+ issues.

In 2021, an IU School of Medicine post noted that the LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference drew 1,000 registrants including physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, psychologists, therapists and other health care professionals.

In 2019, IU School of Medicine Dean Jay Hess wrote a blog, under the headline “Pride in our LGBTQ health care leadership,” where he noted that more than 160 physicians, nurses, physician assistants and other health professionals attended the conference.