Neil Giuliano, the openly gay mayor of Tempe, Arizona, gives the keynote address to the 2004 International Gay & Lesbian Athletics Conference. Giuliano speaks about the importance of acting as leaders and role models in the LGBT community, in athletics, and in the course of everyday life. This lecture was sponsored by the [Gay and Lesbian Athletic Foundation](http://glaf.org).
Neil Giuliano serves as president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Mr. Giuliano joined GLAAD in September 2005. Under Mr. Giuliano's stewardship, GLAAD has taken the lead on many pressing issues for the LGBT community. He is considered among the nation's most visible and effective leaders of the movement for LGBT equality, earning recognition as one of Instinct magazine's Top 25 of 2005 and one of Out magazine's Out 100 in 2006, which recognizes the 100 most influential people in gay culture. Prior to GLAAD, Mr. Giuliano served for 10 years as the mayor of Tempe, Arizona and also had a 25-year career as a senior administrator at Arizona State University, the largest public university in the United States. As mayor of one of the largest cities in the generally conservative state of Arizona, Mr. Giuliano was among the nation's most visible openly gay elected officials, whose track record of successful coalition building won him endorsement by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and overwhelming public support.