Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley to be honored for longtime LGBTQ+ advocacy
Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 | 2 a.m.
Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.
Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley thinks often about the world she will leave behind for her grandchildren.
Growing up, Berkley learned from her family to value people for their contributions to their community and the world, rather than for the color of their skin, their gender, sexuality, religion or ethnicity.
As a Jewish woman, she understands the toll discrimination and hate can take, and she has spent her career working to advance equality for many groups in hopes of building a better world for her family.
Silver State Equality will honor her support of the LGBTQ+ community today with its Equality Ally Award at the organization’s annual awards gala.
“I treat everybody with respect and hope I accord them the dignity that they deserve as fellow human beings,” Berkley said. “There was never any question that I would imagine singling out any group, discriminating against any group, and I have said many, many times since I’ve been mayor that the city of Las Vegas does not discriminate against any group or individual. We will not.”
The annual Silver State Equality Awards, which celebrate Nevada’s LGBTQ+ achievements and the leaders who support the community, will be at 6 p.m. at Soleia Beach Rooftop at the Vanderpump Hotel.
Berkley said she was shocked but delighted to be receiving the award.
When the group honored her friend and former mayor, Jan Jones Blackhurst, with a similar award in 2025, event co-chair Gordon Prouty asked Berkley to welcome Blackhurst onstage to accept her award and say a few words, but a scheduling conflict kept Berkley from attending.
When Silver State Equality called again this year, Berkley expected to be asked to present an award to another friend. Instead, the organization asked if she would be comfortable being on the receiving end.
“As mayor of Las Vegas, leading a diverse city with a strong and active LGBTQ+ community, Shelley Berkley continues her longstanding commitment to equality and inclusion,” said André Wade, state director of Silver State Equality. “Throughout decades of public service, including her work advocating for pro-equality legislation as a member of the U.S. Congress, as well as through personal and community-level support, she has been a consistent advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Silver State Equality is grateful for the opportunity to recognize her contributions with this year’s Equality Allyship Award at our annual Equality Awards event.”
Berkley’s support for the LGBTQ+ community was prominent during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, which ended in 2013.
She co-sponsored the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010, legislation to end the Department of Defense policy that barred LGBTQ+ people from serving openly in the armed forces.
Adopted in 1993, the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prevented openly queer people from enlisting and forced members of the LGBTQ+ community to hide their sexuality or risk discharge from the military branches. Human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, supported its repeal.
The bill was introduced in December 2010 by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa. It passed the House 250-175, then cleared the Senate and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 22, 2010. The policy was fully repealed Sept. 20, 2011, almost 18 years after its enactment.
Before the bill passed, Berkley said she attended a Servicemembers Legal Defense Network rally at the U.S. Capitol and publicly supported LGBTQ+ servicemembers, highlighting the “important contributions” and sacrifices of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans.
Berkley also supported the right to same-sex marriage and laws banning workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, such as the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Her congressional office welcomed gay staff members and adopted employment policies prohibiting discrimination.
The Human Rights Campaign gave Berkley a 100% score on several of its congressional scorecards and highlighted her support for marriage equality; she was the only Nevada congressional representative during that time to achieve this.
As mayor, Berkley said she has continued to support and work with local LGBTQ+ organizations to address issues affecting the community.
In June 2025, Berkley designated June 14 as Southern Nevada Pride Fest Day in a historic move to recognize the event’s fifth anniversary. The proclamation was awarded to the festival for its “dedication to creating safe, affirming spaces and celebrating diversity (that) strengthens the fabric of our region and exemplifies the values of equality, acceptance and civic engagement,” it reads.
She also “was always involved with” the local Pride parade as either an honoree or regular participant and was an early supporter of both the LGBTQ+ Center of Las Vegas and Aid for AIDS of Nevada, also known as AFAN.
Pointing to a history of queer performers and community members in Las Vegas, Berkley said she’s “very proud to be the mayor of a city that’s so accepting of everybody” but worries that discrimination “seems to be very prevalent in our nation right now.”
President Donald Trump and his administration have targeted the LGBTQ+ community through executive orders, including a 2025 directive ordering the Department of Defense to adopt strict policies prohibiting transgender people from serving in the military. The administration also has ordered funding cuts to LGBTQ+ programs and the erasure of transgender people from historical accounts, such as a section on the Stonewall Uprising, on the National Park Service website.
Though these are “very challenging times,” Berkley hopes leaders and the public will continue to protect existing laws that shield the LGBTQ+ community, treat one another with kindness and fight for equal treatment for all.
“Everybody brings something to the table, and if they do that, then they should be appreciated and valued and treated with the dignity that they deserve as human beings,” Berkley said. “I think it’s important to highlight this issue among others in our community and if, by me being honored, it enhances the evening, if it brings people in, if they could raise more money by virtue of the fact that I’m there, good. That’s what I want to do.”