International Gay and Lesbian Rights Activists Honored in San Francisco

Through the Felipa award, IGLHRC hopes to bring about public recognition for a wide array of organizations and individuals committed to the struggle for human rights.

"This year's honorees are real heroes. Where cultural taboos about homosexuality require silence, they make our lives visible."

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) will honor outstanding international activists at the 2002 Felipa Awards ceremony in San Francisco on May 8 and at a reception in New York on May 13.

The Felipa Awards honor activists and organizations worldwide who work against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV status. They are named in honor of Felipa de Souza, a Brazilian lesbian tortured by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1591.

"This year's honorees are real heroes," said Surina Khan, IGLHRC's Executive Director. "Where cultural taboos about homosexuality require silence, they make our lives visible. Where the law penalizes us or simply ignores us, they continue to demand equality and justice."

This year's Felipa Award recipients are Marta Lucía Tamayo Rincón, Marta Lucía Álvarez Giraldo, and Alba Nelly Montoya of Colombia; Cui Zi En of China; and Maher Sabry of Egypt. A posthumous award will honor Brazilian lesbian activist Elizabeth Calvet.

Álvarez and Montoya, represented by attorney Tamayo, are fighting and winning battles for same-sex conjugal visitation rights for Colombian prisoners. Alvarez' case against the Colombian government is the first case based on sexual orientation to appear before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Montoya's case before the Colombian Court won her the right to conjugal visits with her same-sex partner.

Last year, Sabry helped bring legal representation and international attention to ever-mounting cases of persecution of suspected homosexuals in Egypt. He wrote and directed the first play openly addressing male and female homosexuality to be publicly presented in Egypt.

Calvet was a prominent leader and activist in the Brazilian lesbian, feminist and black movements. She brought awareness to the interrelation of issues of race, economics and sexuality and founded organizations assisting primarily poor, black lesbians in Brazil. She also created the "Seminarios Lesbicos," annual, government-funded gatherings of lesbian groups from all Brazilian states.

For more information on this year's Felipa awardees, visit www.iglhrc.org.

Lesbian entertainer Marga Gomez will emcee the 2002 Felipa Awards on Wednesday, May 8, at Brava! for Women in the Arts in San Francisco. Contact IGLHRC at 415.255.8680, or by email kevin@iglhrc.org. Reservations are encouraged, as space is limited.