The laureates

Marcos TORRES is an attorney and professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), where he teaches private international law and civil law. Committed to the LGBT+ community for many years, he supports and advocates for the rights of same-sex couples, for the recognition of transgender people’s gender identity, and against institutional discrimination against the LGBT+ community.

 For two years, he served on the National Commission for Sexual Diversity of the Brazilian Bar Association, which worked to promote the rights of LGBTI+ people in Brazil. On the one hand, Marcos Torres promotes human rights education initiatives aimed at protecting LGBTI+ individuals, for example by producing a guide on human rights through the lens of sexual diversity, organizing outreach programs in favelas (underprivileged communities), and developing training programs for government officials and healthcare professionals. On the other hand, he created a program—integrated into the legal clinic at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s School of Law—to provide free legal assistance to vulnerable individuals who are victims of violations and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In 2020, he defended his doctoral dissertation in family law at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University. His goal now is to bring certain cases before international courts, such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.