Nancy Pelosi to receive pro-LGBT lifetime achievement award
US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is receiving an award in recognition of her support for LGBT rights.
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Centre of Baltimore (GLCCB) have chosen to give its lifetime achievement award to the California representative, who originally hails from the state of Maryland.
Her brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III, also served as Baltimore mayor.
The award is to honour Mrs Pelosi’s “longtime dedication to LGBT rights and her work to fight HIV/AIDS in Congress”.
Mrs Pelosi expressed her gratitude in a statement. “[It is] a great privilege for me to come home to Baltimore and celebrate the progress we’ve made in the fight for equality,” she added: “[I’m] particularly touched to be honoured by the GLCCB and my hometown community after such a banner year for Marylanders and indeed all LGBT families across our country.”
Maryland voted in favour of civil equal marriage in a public referendum held last November.
The award will be presented on 17 November at the GLCCB Champagne Brunch in Baltimore.
In June 2010, Mrs Pelosi stated that her Catholic faith explained why she was a strong supporter of equal marriage. “My religion compels me – and I love it for it – to be against discrimination of any kind in our country, and I consider [the ban on equal marriage] a form of discrimination. I think it’s unconstitutional on top of that.”
