{"id":63143,"date":"2015-10-22T10:11:05","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T10:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=a1b51ded9272f5356a9a17f3f5854a9c"},"modified":"2015-10-22T10:11:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T10:11:05","slug":"speech-pink-news-awards-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=63143","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Pink News Awards speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Welcome to you all and congratulations to Pink News for the work that they do.<\/p>\n

I am delighted to be with you all tonight to celebrate these awards and to mark ten years of Pink News contributing to the UK\u2019s well-deserved reputation across the world as a vibrant, diverse society.<\/p>\n

The award winners, and nominees, are all inspirational people, doing exceptionally important work to advance the cause of LGB&T equality, and we pay tribute to them tonight.<\/p>\n

Today, around the world, far too many LGB&T people live in countries where they are persecuted – simply because of whom they love. <\/p>\n

That is simply unacceptable. That is why the Foreign Office\u2019s work to challenge violence and discrimination against LGB&T people forms such an important part of our wider international human rights work. <\/p>\n

I am proud of our work around the world to campaign against discriminatory laws and to challenge countries that criminalise same sex relations. <\/p>\n

I am delighted, for example, that after lobbying by the British High Commission in Maputo, Mozambique revised its Penal code. We hope others follow suit.<\/p>\n

Just last month, I attended a meeting of the LGB&T Core Group at the UN – a group of like-minded countries dedicated to working for full equality for LGB&T people. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spoke movingly, and I would like to share with you the inspiring words he used. <\/p>\n

He said, \u201cwhen the human rights of LGBT people are abused, all of us are diminished. Every human life is precious – none is worth more than another. We will never shy away from protecting the most marginalized and vulnerable people.\u201d <\/p>\n

I agree wholeheartedly. Silence is an affront to those who suffer discrimination and violence. That is why I can pledge that Britain will continue to use its diplomatic muscle to prevent silence – whether at the United Nations or anywhere else. <\/p>\n

As well as challenging other governments, another important part of our approach lies in our public diplomacy work – reaching out to communities direct; changing perceptions; and demonstrating solidarity with civil society activists, such as Stonewall, the Kaleidoscope Trust and the Human Dignity Trust. I would like to pay particular tribute to their work.<\/p>\n

By way of example, over 5 million people in 135 countries viewed a film campaign spearheaded by the British Council and our Embassies that promoted tolerance of same sex relations. <\/p>\n

It had a vast social media footprint of 75 million posts worldwide. I cite this as both an example and an opportunity which illustrates how the FCO can work with organisations like Pink News to get the right story right out there. <\/p>\n

Of course, no story, however powerfully conveyed, carries weight if our own house is not in order.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Office has not always been the LGB&T-friendly and diverse workplace it is today. As recently as 1991, homosexuality was still a bar to recruitment to the Diplomatic Service. I find that extraordinary.<\/p>\n

Since then, I am pleased to say, we became one of the first Whitehall departments to agree an LGB&T leadership target of 6% – and to ensure LGB&T staff can access all civil service talent action schemes. And quite right too. <\/p>\n

We proactively support staff going on overseas postings with same-sex partners – and give guidance to posts on managing staff spousal visas. <\/p>\n

Our LGB&T staff group – FLAGG – actively works to ensure that being LGB&T is no barrier to a successful career in the FCO. <\/p>\n

So well-regarded is FLAGG, that this year it was awarded the FCO\u2019s Staff Award for Excellence, voted for by staff around the world. <\/p>\n

I would like to finish by congratulating everyone here tonight:<\/p>\n

From our award nominees and winners; <\/p>\n

To our friends in civil society groups, such as the Kaleidoscope Trust, Human Dignity Trust and Stonewall; <\/p>\n

To Pink News – and all its supporters in Parliament and across the country – for your unwavering commitment to improving the lives of LGB&T people both here in the UK and overseas.<\/p>\n

Seemingly entrenched cultural attitudes and intransigent authorities can seem formidable challenges – but we can win them over. We are proving that. Look at the journey we have made, not just in the Foreign Office, but across the UK and the world.<\/p>\n

Together, we can make a world in which people no longer have to face discrimination or violence – where, as Ban Ki Moon said, \u201cevery human life is precious – none worth more than another\u201d <\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speech delivered by Human Rights Minister, Baroness Anelay, at the Pink News Awards ceremony held at the Foreign Office in London<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}