Join WorldOregon, World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, World Affairs Council of Seattle, and World Affairs Councils of America for a special Pride Month program spotlighting the groundbreaking work of OutRight Action International. OutRight recently released a pioneering report, “Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ people”, documenting the effects of the pandemic on LGBTIQ people. While the COVID-19 pandemic leaves no country and no individual unaffected, drawing on almost 60 rapid research interviews conducted with LGBTIQ people in all regions of the world, the report overwhelmingly shows that the challenges faced by LGBTIQ people as a result of the virus and surrounding containment measures are specific and amplified compared to the broader population. Come learn about OutRight’s research and response to COVID-19 and their 30-year history working for human rights for LGBTIQ people globally.

Featured speakers: 

• Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International
• Neish McLean, OutRight’s Caribbean Program Officer
• Luiza Drummond Veado, OutRight’s United Nations Program Officer

Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International, specializes in gender, sexuality and human rights globally. At OutRight, she has doubled the budget, supported the legal registration of LGBTIQ organizations globally, helped secure the mandate of the United Nations Independent Expert on Discrimination and Violence based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and advanced the UN LGBTI Core Group. She is frequently quoted by the media in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Time. She has provided expert opinions to governments globally and UN mechanisms, including UNWomen where she serves as a member of the LGBTI Reference Group and Women Human Rights Defenders Reference Group. Her writing has been cited by the Indian Supreme Court in its seminal judgement decriminalizing homosexuality (Navtej Singh Johar versus the Union of India) and featured in a new chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace and Security (2019). She is an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University. 

Luiza Drummond Veado is OutRight's United Nations Program Officer, based in New York. She is a Brazilian attorney with an International Human Rights Law LLM from the University of Essex. She worked at the Rapporteurship on Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for almost two years, where she developed thematic reports and worked on regional leading cases on LGBTI rights. Prior to this, she was a member of the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Essex and has worked at the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, the Center for Justice and International Law and the Minas Gerais State Human Rights Council and its Truth Commission. Luiza has also published several academic articles on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics; trained more than one hundred activists and government officials on international and regional non-discrimination standards, with a focus on LGBTI rights; and has coordinated an award-winning video campaign on violence against LGBTI persons in the Americas.

Neish McLean is the Caribbean Program Officer at OutRight Action International, based in Jamaica. Neish joined OutRight after serving as OutRight's Religion Fellow in 2018. Neish is a Co-founder of TransWave Jamaica, Jamaica’s first and only organization solely dedicated to advocacy for trans people. Neish is also the Vice-Chair of the United Caribbean Trans Network (UCTRANS). Neish has extensive experience of delivering human rights workshops and trainings throughout the Caribbean and beyond. Neish holds a BSc in Psychology which helps in their work as a human rights defender while using their lived reality as a trans person to inform their advocacy. Neish also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Sports Management. Neish is a sports and fitness enthusiast.

OutRight Action International fights for the human rights for LGBTIQ people everywhere. OutRight works at the international, regional and national levels to research, document, defend, and advance human rights for LGBTIQ people around the world. OutRight is the only LGBTIQ organization that has a permanent presence to advocate at the United Nations Headquarters.

Copresented with World Affairs Councils of Americas, World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, and World Affairs Council of Seattle

(Please note that the starting time of 12 pm is PST)

Free for World Affairs Councils of America members. 

Join or renew your WorldOregon membership

A link to the Zoom webinar* and instructions for participating will be sent to you after you RSVP —as this is an autoresponse message, there's always a chance it has gone to spam/junk boxes, so please check there.

* If you have questions about Zoom and its usage and security please click here.

If you would like to donate to WorldOregon to support our mission and virtual programs during this time please click here