Panel // Sexuality, Health, and Human Rights: Fulfilling the Promise of Health & Human Rights for All

October 27, 2015 — We are at an important crossroads in the global struggle for sexual and gender-related human rights. This event brought together trailblazing academics, policymakers and activists who continue to pioneer this historic movement.

As the panelists considered how the conceptual shifts to which they have contributed impacted the lived realities of sexual and gender minorities around the world, they also delved into subsequent breakthroughs, backlashes and future possibilities. The panelists discussed their work, which began in the 1980s when they successfully pressured Amnesty International to defend the rights of lesbians and gay men. Their conversation moved on to explain how this work has informed ongoing social justice campaigns on the relevance of sexual orientation and gender identity-related rights to a number of domains, from local struggles for inclusive justice to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The continued evolution of this work raises key questions: How does change happen? What does it take for movements to sustain themselves? And what are future issues for academic and activist work at the intersection of sexualities, genders and rights?

Introduced by

• John Heilman // City of West Hollywood

Moderated by

• Laura Ferguson // USC Program on Global Health & Human Rights

This talk was co-hosted by the USC Institute for Global Health, GlobeMed at USC, the Program on Global Health & Human Rights and Occidental College.

Panelists

• Susana T. Fried // Yale University Global Health Justice Partnership
• Sofia Gruskin // USC Program on Global Health & Human Rights
• Alice M. Miller // Yale University Global Health Justice Partnership
• Cynthia Rothschild //Independent Activist & Consultant with UN OHCHR
• Ignacio Saiz // Center for Economic and Social Rights
• Margaret Satterthwaite // New York University Center for Human Rights and Global Justice

Lectures

USC Global Health Lecture Series

Occidental College
This video centers on Amnesty International’s research, programmatic and advocacy work in the sexual rights arena:

Occidental College
This video focuses on sustainable change in institutions, law and movements in the advancement of sexual orientation and gender-related rights:

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Photos