Hillary Clinton and ILGA to receive World Pride awards
Pride London will give US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the ‘World LGBT Award’ in recognition of her contribution to protecting the rights of LGBT people worldwide ahead of World Pride in London this July.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, ILGA, will receive the International Community Award, presented to a non-governmental organisation that similarly fights for the global LGBT community.
The award will be presented at the World Pride Gala Dinner, ‘Dine-with-Pride’, a black-tie fundraiser for Pride London.
The event is due to be held on Thursday 5 July 2012 at a five-star hotel in London, Mrs Clinton’s presence at the fundraiser is unconfirmed. World Pride will follow on 7 July.
The fundraiser will support Pride London’s newly created ‘Solidarity Fund’. This will support organisations in the Commonwealth that work with and for the LGBT community to tackle homophobia and transphobia. The evening will be attended by politicians, celebrities and leading figures from the LGBT community.
She said: “Some seem to believe it is a western phenomenon and therefore people outside the west have grounds to reject it.
“Well, in reality gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world.
“They are all ages, all races, all faiths, they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes.
“Whether we know it, whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends and our neighbours.
“Being gay is not a western invention, it is a human reality.”
The State Department subsequently set extracts of the speech to music with a montage of images of gay couples, and pro-gay demonstrations around the world.
Tickets to the Dine with Pride event are £250 each and can be purchased on the Pride London website.
