LGBTQ+ Rights
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Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox was born in 1972 in Mobile, Alabama, and she and her identical twin brother were raised by a single mother and grandmother. At age 11, Cox attempted suicide—she was developing feelings for her male classmates and being bullied for not acting “the way someone assigned male at birth was supposed to act.” Cox…
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Jacob Tobia
Jacob Tobia (they/them) was born in 1991 and raised by a Methodist family in Raleigh, North Carolina. In high school, Tobia was president of the Gay-Straight Alliance and participated in student government. They applied and were accepted to Harvard but chose to attend Duke University, where they graduated summa cum laude with a degree in…
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Schuyler Bailar
Schuyler Bailar was born in New York City in 1996 and raised in McLean, Virginia. He was solo swimming before his first birthday and competing in the Junior Olympics by age 10. Five years later, he ranked as one of the top 15-year-old breaststroke swimmers in the United States. In 2012, Bailar broke his back…
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Patria Jimenez
Biography: Mexico’s first openly homosexual member of Congress, Patria Jiménez Flores was elected in 1998 at the age of forty-one. The ninth of ten children in a conservative Catholic family, Jiménez overcame her own family’s prejudices to confront the bigotry of society at large. She works on issues of homophobic violence, violations of basic rights,…
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Lakshita Kanhiya
From the shadows of discrimination, Lakshita Kanhiya emerged as a beacon of resilience and justice. Her early encounters with systemic bias fueled her passion to stand as a human rights advocate, dedicated to dismantling discrimination and violence against sexual and gender minorities. She turned adversity into an unyielding commitment for a more inclusive world. Robert…
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Organizational Statement about today’s court ruling allowing discrimination of LGBTQ Americans by business owners
Tags Share In a shameful coda to Pride month, the Supreme Court majority has stripped LGBTQ Americans of their right to freedom from discrimination by businesses owners. The decision follows sustained legislative attacks on transgender people across the country. By speaking out against hate with bravery and compassion, LGBTQ people have expanded the meaning of…
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Pride’s #BookBan Legacy: Speaking Truth to Power
Tags Share Pride has long been known as a joyous celebration of queer life and love, a time for the LGBTQ+ community to come together without fear. Unfortunately, Pride 2023 has felt like less of a celebration and more of a reminder: the struggle for queer existence is not over. From drag bans to policies…
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Uganda Must Repeal Anti-LGBTQ+ Law Immediately
Tags Share On May 29, 2023, President Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) 2023 into law. This law puts LGBTQ+ Ugandans at grave risk and undermines basic human rights in continuation of the increasing crackdown on civic space throughout the country. State action, including through repressive legislation, has made Uganda hostile to LGBTQ+ people. In…
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International Organizations Condemn the Shutdown of Ugandan Organization Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), Call for Authorities to Reverse the Decision Immediately
Tags Share The undersigned organizations strongly condemn the decision to shut down the operations of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a leading non-governmental organization committed to protecting and advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ individuals in Uganda. We call on the Ugandan government to reverse this decision, and to bring an end to the longstanding persecution…
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Honduras has entered a critical moment for LGBTQ+ rights
Tags Share This May, a Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights delegation traveled to Honduras aiming to reinforce the implementation of reparations ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a key legal victory: Vicky Hernández et al. v. Honduras, the Court’s first trans rights case. Alongside our partners at Red Lésbica Cattrachas, the group…
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Kerry Kennedy, mother of Vicky Hernandez celebrate Mother’s Day and discuss long-awaited justice
Tags Share San Pedro Sula, Honduras – Mother’s Day was a reunion seven years in the making for Kerry Kennedy and the mother of slain trans woman and activist, Vicky Hernandez. After climbing the steps to enter Vicky’s childhood home, the two women entered a tearful embrace. “Thank you for keeping hope alive and for…
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