# Research Cluster on LGBTQI+ Human Rights ## Europe at a Crossroads ### By Maximillian Calleo ![Three men sit at a table with microphones in front of a projected map of Europe, at a Weatherhead Center for International Affairs event at Harvard University.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/2025-12/ResearchGroups-LGBTQ-Weatherhead.jpg?itok=BLzGVFb1) On October 20, Weatherhead cosponsored the event “Europe at a Crossroads: The Future of LGBTQI+ Rights,” featuring, left to right: Research Cluster Chair Timothy Patrick McCarthy, former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland Leo Varadkar, and Program Director Diego Garcia Bloom. Credit: Lauren McLaughlin On October 20, the collaboration between the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs was launched with the first official event: “[Europe at a Crossroads: The Future of LGBTQI+ Rights](https://youtu.be/MVf7LVC-F18?si=kFxJ1DhgByxOxGE_).” The new [Weatherhead Center Research Cluster on Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights](https://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/weatherhead-clusters/25-global-lgbtqi-human-rights) explores issues related to the precarity of LGBTQI+ human rights, which have proven to be fodder for authoritarian projects globally. This attack is part of a coordinated transnational effort to inject political polarization and division in societies to weaken the democratic fabric, expanding illiberal influences worldwide. In line with the mission of the cluster, the event featured Leo Varadkar, who is the former prime minister of Ireland and one of the world’s first openly gay government leaders, as its keynote speaker. With a discussion moderated by Timothy Patrick McCarthy, cochair of the research cluster, and Diego Garcia Bloom, director of the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program at the Carr-Ryan Center, the event centered on the critical current moment, which is a pivotal one for Europe, with various EU member states experiencing evolving LGBTQI+ rights landscapes as well as widespread challenges seeking to undermine equality and inclusion in an era characterized by political polarization. With these challenges in mind, the panel explored how the EU can maintain and embrace its founding principles of dignity, freedom, and justice, while fighting the mounting backlash and vitriol aimed at LGBTQI+ communities. Varadkar sought to highlight both the progress achieved while expressing a pressing need for solidarity and action in the European Union. In sum, the discussants focused on the dual responsibility that currently faces the EU: it must respect the diversity of political realities that is representative of its member states while simultaneously guaranteeing that equality and human rights remain a nonnegotiable aspect of its social and political landscape. ![Six people stand side by side, smiling, in front of a Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics backdrop and an American flag.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/2025-12/Program-LGBTQI-cluster-IOP.jpg) “The Fight for LGBTQI+ Equality: Dispatches from the Front Lines” was held on October 7 at the Institute of Politics. The event featured, from left to right: former IOP Director Setti Warren, Jessica Stern (she/her), Dilya Gafurova (she/her), Marline Oluchi (she/they), Pau González Sánchez (he/ him), and Nayyab Ali (she/her). Credit: Martha Stewart/HKS Institute of Politics--- ## More from this issue [### Fall 2025, Volume 40 Number 1 ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025) ![Fall 2025 Centerpiece thumbnail showing illustration of soldiers pointing guns at men holding roses, alongside a duotone graphic "W" with the words "Centerpiece" and the issue information.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/Cover-16x9-social-and-thumbnail.png?itok=Lc8SNERC) [### Message from the Executive Director ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/executive-director) ![Headshot of Erin Goodman alongside text that says "Fall 2025 Message from the Executive Director" and her name against a gray background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-message.png?itok=ypgmpBoO) [### Of Note ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/of_note) ![Aerial view of CGIS buildings and green.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-ofnote_0.png?itok=w_tsZhQB) [### New Books ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/newbooks) ![Collage of about a dozen book covers overlapping set against a beige background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-newbooks.png?itok=uTNH8bI6) [### The Crisis of Pax Americana with Walter Russell Mead ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/feature_manshel) ![Walter Russell Mead and Erez Manela are seated in wingback chairs in conversation.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/11.12.25%20WCFIA%20Manshel%20Lecture_%20040.jpg?itok=e7HTe_kP) [### Dispatches: Undergraduate Researchers in the Field ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/dispatches) ![A smiling woman stands in front of a blue wooden building with white trim.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-dispatches.png?itok=RT0wz7jv) [### Student Programs ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/prog_student) ![Collage of six PhD student headshots in circular frames set against a red background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-prog-students.png?itok=EBsXZSt_) [### Research Cluster on Global Climate Policy ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/prog_climate) ![Four people in business attire are seated in a panel discussion on stage, with one man gesturing while speaking and the others listening attentively.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/Program-climate-cluster.jpg?itok=UttGUWdy) [### Fellowship News ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/fellowship-news) ![An older man sits at a table signing papers with a pen, while a woman sits next to him smiling. Both are indoors at a desk.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/FellowshipNews-Moulay-signing.jpg?itok=AQQMchMp) [### In Memoriam: George Hoguet ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/in_memoriam_hoguet) ![The words "In Memoriam George Hoguet 1947–2025" are written on a green duotone background. ](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-inmemoriam.png?itok=dFwwLPP1) [### Fall 2025 Photo Gallery ](/publications/centerpiece/fall2025/photo_gallery) ![Two women standing indoors, smiling at the camera; one wears a black blazer and orange top, the other wears a red and white striped shirt, with a framed map on the wall behind them.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-12/cpfall25-events.png?itok=H4ATAK5C) See also:- [ Centerpiece: Fall 2025 ](/newsletter-issues/centerpiece-fall-2025)