TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction. – 2. Measures adopted to combat violence and discrimination against LGTBI individuals. – 2.1. Precautionary Measures. – 2.2. IACHR Special Unit. – 3. Case law of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights concerning LGTBI individuals. – 3.1. Cases brought before IACHR. – 3.2. The Court judgment in Atala Riffo and daughters v. Chile. – 3.2.1. General remarks. – 3.2.2. Violation of the right of an equal treatment before the law. – 3.2.3. Violation of the right to a private and family life. – 3.2.4. Reparations.
ABSTRACT: This article explores the protection granted to the rights of lesbian, gay, transsexual, bisexual and inter-sex persons (LGTBI) in the Inter-American system of human rights protection. It takes into consideration all the measures adopted in such a framework to combat violence and discrimination against LGTBI individuals, paying special attention to the adoption of precautionary measures and the establishment of a Special Unit charged with consultative and monitoring powers in the field of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. A thorough analysis is devoted to cases brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and to the case-law of the Inter- American Court on Human Rights. The analysis highlights that important legal development have been taking place on a continent where violence suffered by homosexuals is still very significant and where cultural suspicion and ostracism toward them is still widely practiced.
