Tutu To Receive International Gay Award

I have quoted Archbishop Desmond Tutu on a number of occasions for his courage and conviction in supporting gays and his public denunciations of the far right hate merchantswith in the Angalican Communion such as Nigeria's Peter Akinola (who it turns out may have had a had in a massacre of Muslim women and children). Would that there were more true Christians like Desmond Tutu. Thus, I believe it is completely justified that Tutu is receiving an award by the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Here are some brief highlights from 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/03/032508tut.htm):

(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.

"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 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.