Winners of the 2011 Rainbow Awards, which honor books by, for, or about LGBT individuals, have been announced. A group of 100 judges worldwide participated in choosing the winners from over 300 entries.
“This year was really huge,” says Rainbow coordinator Elise Rolle, who adds that submissions came from “indie publishers, from mainstream publishers. and a lot of self-published authors. I loved it, and I know the judges loved it too.”
On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a historic speech at the United Nations in Geneva declaring that LGBT rights are human rights and human rights are LGBT rights. The full transcript of the speech can be found here and you can also watch it:
Secretary of State Clinton’s speech was awesome, moving, logical, articulate, passionate. She said, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” and again when she said, “It is a violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave.”
In a memorandum issued Tuesday, President Barack Obama directed U.S. agencies working abroad, including the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to use foreign aid to assist gays and lesbians who are facing human rights violations. And he ordered U.S. agencies to protect vulnerable gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers.
“The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States’ commitment to promoting human rights,” Obama said in a statement.
Mary Griggs 