Smiles and Shoulder Taps: A Week of Advocacy in Geneva
When I was young, my parents told me stories about their upbringing in the Dominican Republic. They ran barefoot through neighbors’ farms, they bathed in the river in the early afternoon, and they caught fresh mangoes that fell off the trees that lined the streets. Despite their deeply rooted connection to the island and its people, economic crisis and political instability led them to set their sights on the “American Dream.” Without knowing the language, my parents immigrated to the United States as young adults hoping they could create a stable future for themselves and their families. Because of their unrelenting tenacity, I had the chance to become who I am today.
At the beginning of 2026, I drafted a report on the human rights situation for queer people in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Reading firsthand accounts of discrimination and violence against LGBTIQ+ people in the Caribbean was difficult at first. I imagined what my life could have been, as a young queer person, had my parents decided to stay in the Dominican Republic. Writing the report was my first exposure to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the work The Advocates for Human Rights does in preparation for each session. When The Advocates invited me to join their mission at the United Nations in Geneva, I did not hesitate. Throughout my adult life, advocating for LGBTIQ+ people has been a common thread, and I am grateful to The Advocates for providing the opportunity and to Ballard Spahr LLP for providing the means for me to do so at this scale.
As I arrived in Geneva, with a couple of college semesters of French under my belt, I felt excitement for what would be an incredible week. On day one, Nathan, Rose, and Michele taught us about the UN system and how to approach representatives of the various countries at the Palais des Nations. In the beginning, I was nervous to approach people, but by the second time I “shoulder-tapped” a delegate, I felt like a professional. A close friend, who has since passed, taught me a lesson in my early twenties that was my mantra throughout my shoulder-tapping excursions: “You’d be surprised how far you can get with a handshake and a smile.” On our last day of outreach at the Palais, I used my Spanish skills to help secure a meeting with a delegate from Colombia. The next day, I got to sit down with him and fellow volunteer Mark Addicks to explain why Colombia should recommend to several Caribbean nations that they decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults. The mantra paid off!
There were many moments over the course of the week that will have a lasting impact on who I am as a human and an advocate, but I’d like to highlight one in particular. I gave an oral statement about the United States to the Human Rights Council, detailing how the country has stripped access to sexual and reproductive health, targeted and attacked non-citizens, and flouted its obligations to international human rights bodies. Speaking on behalf of The Advocates before the Council, being who I am and looking the way I do, felt meaningful. While I may have several distinct identities—American, Afro-Latine, queer, veteran, and the child of immigrants—I possess them all at once. This experience showed me that lasting human rights reforms are possible when we see each other as complex humans with intersectional and intertwined histories and approach each other with kindness and curiosity.
Written by Bertilio “Lio” Correa, Jr.
“You’d be surprised how far you can get with a handshake and a smile.”
