At the awards, IGLHRS's highest award was presented to Arsham Parsi, executive director of the Iranian Queer Organization (IQO) and Andres Ignacio Rivera Duarte, founder of the Chilean-based Organizacion de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad, and the 2008 Special Recognition Award to IBM.

"I'm happy to be here in New York to represent the Iranian Queer Organization and to accept this award. When I received news about winning this award, I was working on the documentation for an Iranian who had escaped from the United Kingdom after he was denied asylum and was scheduled to be deported back to Iran where he would have faced persecution and death," said Parsi in his acceptance speech.

Though the organization is based in Canada, Parsi said, they do not have an office because they use all their available funds to help asylum seekers. The IQO, Parsi said, is starting a new project devoted to poetry, publishing books and brochures in both Persian and English written by gay men in Iran, and continuing to provide telephone counseling for gay men in Iran.

Rivera Duarte in his acceptance speech thanked the IGLHRC for the award and said that for him and his organization in Chile, not conforming to the gender roles of male and female assigned by society is one of the biggest challenges because it attracts discrimination and bullies.
"I belong to the transgendered community in Chile and we're required to undergo many transformative procedures," Rivera Duarte said.

Describing his own and the process of many like him, Rivera Duarte said that those who intend to transform their original gender have to present anal, vaginal and tactile photographical evidence, undergo psychological evaluations, hormone therapies, and a name change as documentation of their transformation to a judge who can choose to either accept or deny their petition.
"This difference is understandable because we've always been treated with difficulty and it is for this we rely on funding help," he said, referring to the award and the support his organization receives from the IGLHRC.

Rivera Duarte said that while he is grateful for the award, he acknowledged that he is not the only transgendered man in Chile, but indicated that many like him exist in nearby countries, such as Bolivia and Brazil, where the fight for quality, acceptance and recognition is just as strong.

According to the IGLHRC, the Felipa DeSouza award was first presented in 1994 to courageous advocates from Columbia, South Africa, and Belgrade. Since its inception, it has been awarded to representatives from countries including Brazil, Thailand, and Australia. The award is based on the embodiment of the spirit and story of its namesake who endured persecution and brutality after proudly declaring her intimacy with a woman in a 16th Century inquisition trial in Brazil.

Parsi, in a separate interview, said he fled Iran about five years ago when in 2001 two of his closest friends, 21 and 22 years old, committed suicide by eating arsenic rather than continue to suffer persecution from their families after someone told their parents that they were gay. Parsi said that at the funeral of one of his friends, the dead man's father said that his son was in love with a girl and that he didn't know what happened to make his son commit suicide. In Iran, Parsi added, families consider it a shame if any of their children are gay. He said that he is writing a book called "I sing the song of freedom" to tell about his personal experience, and his commitment to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people of Iran. Two days ago, Parsi was informed that he and his organization won the 2008 Toronto Pride Gala Award.

At the awards ceremony, Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of IGLHRC, said that the "Celebration of Courage" award helps to fund the work of the organization worldwide.

"It connects us all to a phenomena happening worldwide, and I hope you are all doing something, where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered are finding themselves in the spotlight," she said.
The mission of IGLHRC with offices worldwide, Ettelbrick said is to break the cycle of treatment of LGBT people by using the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights to guide and to challenge abuses against LGBT people.

"The challenge in Russia is to hold Pride events, the organization in Uganda, SMUG, to be recognized, the rights of those in China, and we fight for the rights of LGBT people around the world," she said.
Dorothy Sander, co-chair of IGLHRC's Board of Directors, in presenting the award to IBM, expressed thanks to everyone who is committed to the fight against discrimination worldwide, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She said that IBM is given an award because they have a policy respecting all genders and sexual orientations and as a corporation, has helped IGLHRC's work around the world, especially in Latin America.

"The award presentation is based on advice from our international advisory board and staff about people who are making compelling progress in the work of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered in their countries or regions, where the award helps further the underground work, especially as in the case of Iran," said Sander.

The award, she said, is a $5,000 cash award as well as recognition in the international LGBT community.

"As a global enterprise, it is valuable for employees to feel safe and protected. IBM and IGLHRC's partnership work because IBM was the first company to offer domestic partnership benefits to their employees. At IBM we believe that none of us is as strong as all of us," said Joseph Bertolusi as he accepted the award on behalf of IBM.

At the post award reception, Garret Hornsby, one of the guests said that it is really uplifting to support an organization like the IGLHRC and human rights worldwide.

Joining Hornsby in his praise, Lione Legault, originally from Gabon and France, and who is an activist and a human rights lawyer said that it is exhilarating to be part of a change, a revolution, of freedom, and of equal rights.

"Being here tonight somehow is helping me to learn how to give back. Gay rights is my first priority," he said.