Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Childhood and Adolescence: A Global Forum on Development, Health, and Rights
August 17~19, 2026
University of Utrecht
General registration is now open for the SRCD & ISSBD SOGIE Global Forum — Special Topic Meeting: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Childhood and Adolescence: A Global Forum on Development, Health, and Rights, taking place August 17–19, 2026, in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Early bird registration is available through 15 May. Space is limited, and early registration is encouraged.
Overview of the Meeting
There is an urgent need for interdisciplinary approaches to address the unique developmental challenges of LGBTQ+ children and adolescents around the world. We aim to convene a global coalition of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to consider how developmental science can meaningfully advance scientific translation, communication, and application to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ children and adolescents worldwide. This global forum will illuminate the state of the science for LGBTQ+ children and adolescents for the dual purpose of (1) advancing and innovating developmental theories and methods and (2) addressing global sociopolitical challenges for LGBTQ+ youth health and rights, particularly for transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents.
The forum will be the premier event of a years-long strategy to convene researchers, advocates, and policymakers from around the world. Prior to the conference, we will engage an international advisory board to plan the forum and coordinate cross-national working groups with a topical focus on schools, families, and health and convene members virtually to build opportunities for connection and collaboration ahead of the forum.
In addition to traditional academic conference sessions (e.g., peer-reviewed and invited panels, keynotes, socials), the forum will provide opportunities to advance developmental science and its translation with training sessions (e.g., methodological innovation/advancement, scientific communication), policy-focused panels and workshops (e.g., cross-national advocates, writing for a policy impact), and topical working group sessions on schools, family, and health to accelerate research innovation and impact.
The forum will build the infrastructure and launch a “year of action,” which will support working groups to engage in public and policy-relevant research in the year following the forum. This includes more traditional academic deliverables, such as special issues and peer-reviewed publications, but also policy reports, science communication materials, op-eds, cross-national research collaboration, and grant applications, and more. In addition to fostering global collaboration, we aim to support the development of regionally grounded outputs that translate shared knowledge into locally relevant action—ensuring that participants can bring insights back to their own communities. We also hope to develop a series of ongoing webinars following the conference to continue to support innovative research and action for LGBTQ+ child and adolescent development, health, and rights from a global perspective.
Organizers: Jessica Fish, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, United States; Laura Baams, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Salvatore Ioverno, Università Roma Tre, Italy; and Stephen Russell, Arizona State University, United States.
Co-organizers
This meeting is co-organized by the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD), the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), and hosted by Utrecht University.
2026 Global Forum Endorsements
This meeting is endorsed by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
2026 Global Forum Partners
Forum partners include the European Society on Family Relations (ESFR) and the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA).
