Carr Center at Harvard Kennedy School Introduces New Global Program for LGBTQI+ Human Rights | Press Release

The Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights has launched the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at researching and addressing issues affecting LGBTQ+ individuals worldwide. Led by a team of esteemed faculty members, including Mathias Risse, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, and Diego Garcia Blum, the program seeks to support LGBTQ+ people living outside of the U.S. who face severe discrimination for their sexual identities.

The program will host two training sessions each year, focusing on countries with lower acceptance of queer individuals, conducting research into myths surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals, and developing policy suggestions to address LGBTQ+ issues. The first training program, the International LGBTQI+ Activism Summit, will bring together activists and organizers from regions where being LGBTQ is particularly dangerous.

In addition to in-person summits, the program will also offer a nine-month virtual program to engage 200 participants and make research and teachings available to LGBTQ activists around the world for free. The program aims to expand access to Kennedy School research by producing an online database that synthesizes existing research on LGBTQ+ issues.

The program has already garnered praise from faculty members and is expected to make significant contributions to LGBTQI+ human rights causes globally. This initiative, born out of a successful pilot program, highlights the Kennedy School’s commitment to studying and addressing LGBTQ+ issues on an international scale.