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365Gay.com
Tutu Speaks Out On
Gay Civil Rights
From the Web, April
9, 2008
San Francisco, California --
Archbishop Desmond Tutu told an international LGBT human rights group that it
has been impossible to keep quiet "when people were frequently hounded ...
vilified, molested and even killed as targets of homophobia ... for something
they did not choose-their sexual orientation."
Tutu was in San Francisco to receive the Outspoken award from the International
Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The presentation was made as part
of the organization's A Celebration of Courage human rights ceremony on Tuesday,
April 8, 2008 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
In his 30-minute address Tutu said that in the face of this ongoing persecution
LGBT people were "compassionate, caring, self-sacrificing and refusing to be
embittered."
Tutu spoke critically of the worldwide Anglican Church, apologizing for the way
it has ostracized LGBT people, and for making them feel as if God had made a
mistake by creating them to be who they are.
"How sad it is," he said, "That the Church should be so obsessed with this
particular issue of human sexuality when God's children are facing massive
problems -- poverty, disease, corruption, conflict ..."
Tutu also spoke on human rights in China, saying he would pray for that country
to do the right thing, use its clout to bring positive change in Tibet, Burma
and Sudan, and improve its own human rights record.
He suggested that world leaders boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic
games to protest China's record on human rights. He praised the US
Congress and the First Lady in particular for being "on the side of angels" for
their work on Burma.
A crowd of about 500 were in the church for his address.
The Outspoken award recognizes Tutu's leadership as a global ally of the LGBT
community. His outspokenness has contributed substantially to advancing
the rights and understanding of LGBT people everywhere the IGLHRC said.
The presentation happened to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic Torch in
San Francisco where civil rights activists were mounting protests.
"When IGLHRC invited Archbishop Tutu to come to San Francisco to accept its
Outspoken Award, we had no idea that our event would coincide with such a
momentous time in the history of human rights activism," said Paula Ettelbrick,
IGLHRC's executive director.
"The Archbishop's speech at this unique historical moment affirms that human
rights apply to each and every human being-in South Africa, in the United
States, in China, and around the world. Activists and governments alike
should heed the Archbishop's words. He is a moral luminary whose inclusive
approach to human rights advocacy paves the way for a better world."
Since 1990 the IGLHRC has documented and fought human rights abuses faced by
LGBT people and groups around the world.
In 1984, Tutu 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."
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