Ian Lekus, Ph.D., the Council for Global Equality's Policy and Communications Officer, is an internationally recognized expert on global LGBTQI human rights. Across grassroots movements, the nonprofit sector, and academia, Dr. Lekus has advocated for and researched LGBTQI justice, peace, and human rights for more than 25 years.Ian has been an LGBTI Thematic Specialist at Amnesty International USA since 2013. He has also served on the Advisory Board of the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program at the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights and as the founding host/producer of the Radio Free Qtopia podcast.
After receiving a B.A. from Cornell and a Ph.D. from Duke, Ian held full-time faculty positions for seven years at Harvard, Tufts, and the University of Georgia, and has taught additional courses at Cornell, Duke, the University of Maryland, and N.C. State. His areas of expertise include U.S. foreign policy, human rights, comparative social movements, LGBTQI studies, HIV/AIDS, and war, peace, and conflict studies. He has written and spoken extensively about LGBTQI issues, human rights, and social change.
Ian has also served as the Board Chair of GLSEN's Raleigh-Durham chapter and of the Committee for LGBT History, the professional association of LGBTQI historians in North America; as a Research Analyst for Fund the People; and as a fundraiser for AccessHealth MA, a Boston-based nonprofit for HIV drug research, treatment, and prevention.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. area.
Pronouns: He/Him.
