An Obscure International Court Protects LGBTQ+ Rights in the Americas
5.28.2025
A little-known international court can give LGBTQ+ people a chance at justice outside of their local legal systems.
A recent New York State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education course explained the Inter-American Human Rights System, its court system, and its impact on LGBTQ+ rights in the Americas.
Leading the discussion was Gustavo Miranda Coutinho, a Brazilian lawyer, researcher and human rights activist. He is also a participant in the 2024-25 Human Rights Advocates Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University.
It was the first time Coutinho delivered the lecture in English. He usually presents it in Portuguese and Spanish.
What is the Inter-American System?
The Inter-American Human Rights System was established in 1959 and has a mission to monitor, protect and promote human rights in 35 countries in North and South America.
“It was strengthened during the 60s and the 70s,” said Coutinho. “It was pretty much a response to authoritarian regimes in the Latin American context. Many countries have endured dictatorships during the past century. The Inter-American System itself was a response to those human rights violations that occurred in dictatorships in various countries… It also created a situation where many countries would rectify and incorporate the jurisdiction of Inter-American Court into their domestic law and policy work, even though they were still authoritarian.”
The Inter-American Human Rights System has two components. The first part, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is responsible for determining what cases are admissible before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is based in San José, Costa Rica.
“There’s no way to access the Court directly,” said Coutinho. “Individuals must set up a petition to the Commission, which will make recommendations and try to have negotiations with the state. And if that’s not successful, then the case is sent to the Court… To access the system, there are two main requirements cases must fulfill. To have exhausted the negotiation process and to have exhausted all of the remedies domestically.”
LGBTQ+ Cases Brought Before the Court
In the past few years, the court has ruled in several cases involving LGBTQ+ rights. The first was Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile, in which Karen Atala Riffo lost custody of her three daughters after divorcing her husband and starting a relationship with a woman. The Inter-American Court determined that the Chilean court system had discriminated against Atala Riffo due to her sexual orientation.
Coutinho said of the court’s ruling, “It states in summary how sexual orientation, and furthermore gender identity, is a protected category, and how it’s understood under the umbrella of human dignity as well.”
While Atala Riffo lost custody in 2005, the court released its decision in 2012. Coutinho highlighted that many of the cases in his presentation took a decade or more to reach the court, in part because all other remedies must be exhausted first.
Other LGBTQ+ cases that have gone through the Inter-American System have involved police violence against transgender people, pension benefits for a same-sex partner, and gay teachers in religious schools.
Attendees thanked Coutinho for bringing attention to this little-known mechanism after he finished his lecture. The presentation was sponsored by the New York State Bar Association’s LGBTQ+ Law Section.
View the full presentation here.
