New York State Bar Association To Host Program Examining the State of LGBTQ+ Human Rights Across the Americas
5.19.2025
As LGBTQ+ people face legal difficulties in the United States and around the world, the New York State Bar Association is hosting a seminar to explore how a mechanism to strengthen human rights in North and South America can protect LGBTQ+ rights.
“The challenges to LGBTQ+ rights have only increased in the past few years,” said Domenick Napoletano, president of the New York State Bar Association. “With Pride Month coming up in a few weeks, it is important for attorneys to know how international standards and protections for human rights can help LGBTQ+ people live free and authentic lives in dozens of countries, including here in the United States.”
The webinar, “LGBTI+ Rights in the Inter-American System: An Overview,” will take place on Friday, May 23 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Journalists are invited to attend but must contact Rebecca Melnitsky at rmelnitsky@nysba.org.
Gustavo Miranda Coutinho, a Brazilian lawyer, researcher, human rights activist, and advocate at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, will lead the discussion.
The program will cover the rights to marriage and health, as well as legal name and gender changes, for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people across North and South America. One of the topics covered will be the evolution of LGBTQ+ rights in the context of the Inter-American Human Rights System, a coalition with the authority to monitor, investigate and protect human rights in 35 countries in North and South America.
The course is free for New York State Bar Association members, as one of the many benefits of the association’s new, all-inclusive membership package. Attendees will receive one Continuing Legal Education credit. The program is sponsored by the association’s LGBTQ+ Law Section.
