In the Right Direction, Family Diversity in the Inter-American System of Human Rights

This paper Article argues that the Inter-American System of Human Rights (IASHR) has contributed to a family system that embraces gender equality and non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming families. It argues that the system had, from its inception, an expansive idea of the family that included associations outside marriage. This was the basis for a robust development of the concepts of equality and non-discrimination by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). Although the IACtHR has only decided a handful of cases related to the non-heterosexual family, its rich case law on equality and the right to family is favorable to family diversity, including marriage equality. The IASHR, however, must be careful not to fall into the trap of privileging the married family after so much progress towards family diversity. This risk is more apparent after the IACtHR issued a 2017 Advisory Opinion regarding trans rights and same-sex couples that focused heavily on the regulation of marriage.