🔙 Main LCC11 page
LCC12 selection
We received 2 proposals to host LCC12 in 2026: Copenhagen, Denmark and Dakar, Senegal. We rejected the latter proposal due to Senegal’s criminalization of gay & trans people. This is the second time we have rejected a proposal to host an LCC in Africa, for the same reason; the previous proposal was for Nigeria.
Given that this is true of most of Africa (and not likely to change), we don’t want to completely foreclose the potential of having an LCC on an entire continent. Therefore, we considered the rejection to be without prejudice to potentially having a future LCC there which is regional and/or heavily hybrid, i.e. such that attendees are not exposed to increased risks vs the situation in their home countries.
We welcome your feedback on how we should handle such a proposal in the future.
LCC11 selection
We had 4 proposals for LCC11: Copenhagen, Maryland, Seattle, and York. We asked for your input on our choice of venue, and received over 100 responses — and we thank everyone who answered.
Taking everything into consideration, the Board viewed Copenhagen and Maryland as the strongest proposals. Both were very well put together, by enthusiastic hosts, in excellent locations.
Maryland had the advantage of faculty and departmental support and proximity to Gallaudet University, and of being back in the United States after a decade (the last was LCC5, in 2013). Copenhagen had the advantage of more people indicating that they could or would attend in person, particularly cross-Atlantic.
Unfortunately, this would likely be our only chance at having an LCC in the D.C. area in the near future — whereas Copenhagen would likely be available next year. However, Maryland had the disadvantage of being in the United States — which many potential attendees, particularly trans people, indicated as a source of concern for safety — and of being on a shorter deadline.
Ultimately, it was an almost exact tie, with Board members leaning both ways (and changing their minds both ways after live discussion with our potential hosts), but we decided in favor of having LCC11 in Maryland — with the intention of holding LCC12 next year, preferably in Europe — and providing detailed resources with a particular emphasis on safety for our European and trans attendees.
We would like to switch to holding LCCs on an annual basis, likely with a broad pattern of switching continents every year. This would allow us to announce the the subsequent LCC’s venue and date at the LCC, have a longer lead time for organizing both hosts and content, and be better accessible for our worldwide audience.