LGBTQ+ Rights Under Attack - Session 2: Protecting Against Violence and Discrimination

Harvard Divinity School

Full title: LGBTQ+ Rights Under Attack - Session 2: Protecting Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: A Global Perspective This is the second event in the three-part series “LGBTQ+ Rights Under Attack: The Weaponization of Religious Freedom and Free Speech." In this session, "Protecting Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: A Global Perspective," Victor Madrigal-Borloz presented the “Report of the UN Independent Expert on Protection against Violence and Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,” which he released in June 2023 while fulfilling his appointment. In conversation with Susie Hayward, Madrigal-Borloz shared his perspective on the global dynamics and trends related to the assault on LGBTQI+ Rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief and how they are feeding in/out of what’s taking place in the United States. Speakers: Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Lecturer on Law and the Eleanor Roosevelt Senior Visiting Researcher at the Harvard Law School Human Rights Program Susie Hayward, Associate Director for the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative and former senior advisor for Religion and Inclusive Societies at the U.S. Institute of Peace Moderator: Diane L. Moore, Associate Dean of Religion and Public Life Overall Series: After over a decade of steady progress to protect and advance the rights of sexual and gender minorities in the US, a coordinated campaign to halt this progress and even unwind these protections has taken place in state legislatures, courts, and schools across the country. From “bathroom bills” passed to prevent trans people from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity to the illegalization of gender-affirming care for minors to Supreme Court rulings offering constitutional protection for business owners withholding their services to LGBTQ+ people, this legislation is often argued as a matter of religious freedom or free speech. A dominant claim of those pushing back against LGBTQ+ rights is that the accommodation of such legislation requires violating their ability to practice their sincerely held religious beliefs. Religion and Public Life will host a series of three events that engage this vital topic from a variety of angles and perspectives, asking, “What can the academic study of religion and religious literacy work offer to organizers, legal advocates, and other concerned citizens seeking to protect and advance justice in this critical moment for the LGBTQ+ rights movement?” This event took place on November 16, 2023. For more information, https://hds.harvard.edu/ Full transcript: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/video/2023/11/16/lgbtq-rights-under-attack-session-2-protecting-against-violence-and-discrimination