IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
2 Nov - 7 Nov 2025
Session information
IBA HRI Showcase - Rejecting the rights rollback: advancing LGBTQIA+ equality around the world
Monday 3 November (1430 - 1730)
Committee(s)
IBA's Human Rights Institute
(Lead)
LGBTQI+ Law Committee
Rule of Law Forum
Description
There is an erosion of LGBTQIA+ rights and equality in both law and practice around the world. A global wave of discriminatory anti-LQBTQIA+ laws and policies have targeted and persecuted LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities, from criminalising LGBTQIA+ persons; to restricting freedom of assembly and association; to hindering access to healthcare and education. As a result, LGBTQIA+ individuals continue to face disproportionate risks of violence, stigma, and discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This session will explore the historical and political context of the increasing criminalisation, examine the rise of populist governments attacking LGBTQIA+ persons, and call on the international community to resist the attacks against recent advances in LGBTQIA+ equality worldwide.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
Steeves Bujold | McCarthy Tetrault, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Events Officer, LGBTQI+ Law Committee |
Robert Ellison | Private Practice, São Paulo, Brazil; LGBTIQ+ Committee Representative, IBA Diversity & Inclusion Council |
Speakers
Joshua Block | ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Projects, New York, New York, USA |
Georgia Dawson | Freshfields, London, England |
Titan Deng | Prisma Attorneys at Law, Taipei, Taiwan |
Njeri Gateru | National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Nairobi, Kenya |
Adam Goldenberg | McCarthy Tetrault, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Frank Mugisha | SMUG International, Kampala, Uganda |
Tim Prudhoe | 3 Hare Court Barristers Chambers, London, England |
Krzysztof Smiszek | European Parliament, Warsaw, Poland |
Mykola Stetsenko | Ukrainian Bar Association, Kyiv, Ukraine |