Michael Loewy was the founder of Desert Mountain States Lesbian and Gay Conference and the Lesbian and Gay Academic Union at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Loewy moved to California in 1987, but remained involved with the gay community in Las Vegas. In 2002 he graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2003 he won a Foundation Award, "Honoring the Pioneers of Gay Las Vegas."
As an advocate for the gay community in Nevada, Daniel Hinkley has been involved with ACT-UP!– Nevada, served as executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Las Vegas, and in 2001 founded the Stonewall Democrats of Southern Nevada. Hinkley was also involved in the fight to repeal Nevada’s sodomy law in 1993, and, between 2000 and 2002, he was involved with the gay community’s unsuccessful fight against Question 2, which amended Nevada's constitution to prevent same-sex marriage.