ATTN Bishops Rowan Williams/Gomez/Orombi/Okoh: "Every day people live in fear because of who they love: We are talking about our family members, our flesh and blood, our humanity..."

Here are the recent words of a true man of faith, Archbishop Desmond Tutu...

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu,  Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

¨Former Archbishop Doctor Desmond Tutu is one of the world's most renowned faith-based leaders. He's a promoter of human rights and tolerance and has repeatedly used his position of power to try and promote peace.

On his birthday last month, the Archbishop announced that he would be retiring from public life, to spend more time with his family. But though his public activism has subsided, his words still carry on.

Including in this month's Essence magazine, where Tutu has an open letter addressing violence based on sexual orientation. The letter makes a plea to citizens in the United States, Africa and across the world, for acceptance of LGBT people. He asks people to stop the bullying, violence and sometimes murder of the gay and lesbian community. The letter was done in collaboration with Essence magazine and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).



LGBTI murder is ¨all to common. This must change¨

"Today I pray for people in Africa and throughout the world who long for freedom because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender," starts the letter. "It grieves me to be retiring at this crucial moment in history, so I write to you in this open letter, to invite you to pick up the work that remains to be done. More than 70 countries still imprison or execute gay and transgender people, and bullying and murders are all too common. This must change."
In a really breathtaking move, the former Archbishop of South Africa talks directly to other faith-based leaders and to politicians alike. This letter comes at a time where the respect for and recognition of LGBT people in Africa is especially weak. A Ugandan newspaper recently published the names and faces of local gays and lesbians in order to promote violence against them in a "war against homosexuality."

"Boldly, I urge all faith leaders and politicians to stop persecuting people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," he says. "Every day people live in fear because of who they love. We are talking about our family members, our flesh and blood, our humanity. LGBT people are in our villages, towns, cities, countries — and our whole world." please read it all HERE (emphasis added by Leonardo Ricardo)

· Thanks to Archbishop Desmond Tutu
· Thanks to Essence Magazine
· Thanks to Flickr Photosharing
· Thanks to Brandon Miller
· Thanks to Change.Org/Gay Rights, sidebar