Queen Elisabeth II honours LGBT Work in C&E Europe

In this 40th birthday year of PRIDE, the LGBT people of Central & Eastern Europe have featured in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2010 with the award of an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) to Clare B Dimyon. This honour is "in recognition of her services to promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Central and Eastern Europe".

Clare attended Bucharest GayFest 2009 and was celebrating her birthday inRomania when this decision was made at the end of April.

Clare responds: "This is a great honour but I am only a visitor to the PRIDE parades in C&E Europe. I am only a witness to the determination of LGBT people (and their friends and families) to achieve their full human rights and dignity. I am delighted at this recognition for the LGBT people of C&E Europe, it is recognition and honour they richly deserve. I look forward to the day when their own countries recognise and honour them for their contribution. This is not only the development of the human rights and dignity of LGBT people (and all minorities) but the embedding of democratic principles in the post-Soviet era. As I am prone to saying on my travels in C&E Europe, Love is the answer, so what was the question?"

In June, the EU Commission hosted in London an exhibition in honour of the 40th birthday of PRIDE. "Fall of the Wall" meet Stonewall – was a visual "parade of the parades" of the LGBT people of C&E Europe.

StiriGay.ro was proud to take part at the event as two of our photographs taken by Ciprian Vantu at 2010 Romanian GayFest March were selected by Clare Dimyon and were exhibited at "Fall of the Wall meets Stonewall".

Photo credit: Clare B Dimyon with Natalija Puzanskaja (LT) at Baltic PRIDE – Vilnius 2010 / Photo by: Daiva Šarėjienė (LT)