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 Tutu To Receive International Gay Award
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 25, 2008 - 3:00 pm ET
(New York City) Archbishop Desmond Tutu has
been named the recipient of a prestigious award by the New York-based International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
The IGLHRC will present its 2008 Outspoken Award as part of
the organization's A Celebration
of Courage human rights ceremony on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at Grace Cathedral in
San Francisco.
Since 1990 the IGLHRC has documented and fought human rights abuses
faced by LGBT people and
groups around the world.
"There is really only one name in the world that immediately conjures up
moral leadership in pursuit of dignity for all people on earth, and that is
Desmond Tutu," said Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's Executive Director.
"Archbishop Tutu's vision of a world in which human rights are respected
has always explicitly included LGBT people, despite the fierce opposition he has
faced from his peers and colleagues. He has challenged political apartheid in
South Africa and continues to challenge spiritual apartheid within his religious
community."
Archbishop Tutu became a leading moral voice in the crusade for justice and
racial conciliation in South Africa.
In 1984, he received a Nobel Peace Prize to
recognize his extraordinary contributions to the struggle against apartheid.
He
was elected Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985, and promoted to Archbishop of Cape
Town the following year. As Archbishop, he became a principal mediator and
conciliator in the transition to democracy in South Africa. In 1995, President
Nelson Mandela appointed him Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, a body set up to probe gross human rights violations that occurred
under apartheid.
Archbishop Tutu has vocally challenged discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. In a 2004 article in The Times of London, he condemned persecution
on the basis of sexual orientation, comparing it to apartheid.
"We
struggled against apartheid in South Africa, supported by people the world over,
because black people were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could
do nothing about-our very skins," he wrote. "It is the same with
sexual orientation. It is a given. I could not have fought against the
discrimination of apartheid and not also fight against the discrimination that
homosexuals endure, even in our churches and faith groups."
He has been a vocal opponent of punishing the
American branch of his own Anglican Church over the ordination of an openly gay
bishop - Gene Robinson in New Hampshire.
"Archbishop Tutu's decision to address our community while in the United
States signals the rise in status that LGBT communities around the world are
achieving," said Ettelbrick.
"This is a historic opportunity for LGBT people in the US to connect
with a leader who plays a monumental role in world events," she said.
"And, our community can play a key role in pushing our US leaders to take
more responsible and ethical positions on the when it comes to human rights
violations within our own country and around the world."
At the same event the IBM Corporation will receive IGLHRC's special recognition award for its
contributions to IGLHRC's global mission of building a strong and viable LGBT
human rights movement and for its leadership in promoting non-discrimination
policies in all of its workplaces in the world.
IBM has been particularly
supportive of IGLHRC's work in Latin America, sponsoring IGLHRC's 2007 Human
Rights Training Institute in Costa Rica, which was devoted to developing the
advocacy capacity of lesbian and bisexual women in Central America.
©365Gay.com 2008
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