U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FORMALLY ACCEPTS PRIDE LONDON AND KALEIDOSCOPE TRUST’S “WORLD LGBT AWARD”

U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton formally agreed to accept WorldPride’s “World LGBT Award”. The decision to award her was announced earlier this month in recognition of her outstanding contributions in protecting and advancing the human rights of LGBT people worldwide.

Secretary Clinton’s acceptance of this award follows a week of senior global politicians - including U.S. President Barrack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron - making public statements of their support for the human rights of LGBT individuals.

Secretary Clinton has long been a great supporter of LGBT rights and made headlines last December with a major speech at the UN in Geneva where she demanded global rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Pride London is host to WorldPride this year and the theme of ‘TODAY LONDON, TOMORROW THE WORLD’ highlights their campaigns to ‘Decriminalise Homosexuality Worldwide’ and to drive ‘Global Equality for LGBT people’. Co-presenters of the “World LGBT Award”, the Kaleidoscope Trust (whose aims are directly aligned to the Pride London’s campaigns this year) are charity partners to Pride London.

“I am thrilled that Secretary Clinton has decided to accept our award. This sends a powerful message to the world, that gay rights are indeed human rights and that global leaders will not stand back and allow human beings to be punished simply because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

Moreover, it is an important message, one of hope, to our LGBT brothers and sisters in countries that still criminalise homosexuality. A message that we are listening, watching; and that we will not stop campaigning for their rights until they are treated equally and can live without the fear that their own government will punish them purely because they may love people of their own gender.

This is particularly poignant, as four innocent young gay men in Iran are due to be murdered by their government, one supposedly set up to protect them – purely because they choose to love another human being.

Iran aside, a staggering 41 countries out of 53 in our very own Commonwealth of Nations criminalise being LGBT and we have a responsibility beyond our borders to end this atrocity, particularly in the year Britain hosts WorldPride” – Dr. Patrick Williams, Chair, Pride London

The award will be presented at the WorldPride Gala Dinner, ‘Dine-with-Pride’ to be held in London on Thursday 5th July 2012. For more details, visit Pride London’s new website on www.pridelondon.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Uwern Jong, Director of Communications
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Source: PrideLondon.org