GLIFAA has held numerous events in Washington and at U.S. embassies around the world. For example, in July 2005 GLIFAA members held a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Speakers at GLIFAA events in Washington have included openly gay Congressman Jim Kolbe and Judy Shepard, mother of slain gay student Matthew Shepard. In June 2010, Secretary of State Clinton and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah spoke at a GLIFAA-sponsored event at the main State Department building on the topic of "LGBT Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy." At the event, Secretary Clinton stated that the U.S. government would take a more assertive role in protecting the rights of LGBT people and communities around the world.