Brody's Notes... British Lesbian Equality Rights Activist Honoured By Queen Elizabeth In Buckingham Palace Ceremony

Clare Dimyon  Photo By Zefrog-London, UK

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) NOV 4 | In a ceremony last Friday, October 29th, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second formally invested Clare Dimyon, 45, a Lesbian LGBT Equality Rights activist from Brighton, England, as a Member of the British Empire, (MBE).

Dimyon had made history when in 2008, she personally persuaded British embassies in central and eastern Europe to fly the Rainbow Pride Flag, in hopes of raising greater awareness to the lack of LGBT Equality Rights in the former Republics of the Soviet Union and countries in the old Warsaw Pact that were under Soviet influence. 

Ms. Dimyon launched a 10,000 mile campaign journey last year, visiting cities and countries, as she wryly told an interviewer, "Pride hopping," with the express intent of drawing recognition to those countries with poor records on LGBT human rights issues. In her June visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, the British ambassador noted in the Embassy's online journal:

June 1st- PRIDE Solidarity. After attending an economic seminar on how Ukraine can overcome the economic crisis, I hosted a "Lesbian and Gay Pride" dinner at the residence. Clare Dimyon, a British human rights activist, has been running a “PRIDE Solidarity Tour” in Eastern Europe to raise awareness and exchange ideas on how best to protect gay rights, and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. 

Her visit to Ukraine has coincided with the Second National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) conference in Kyiv from 28-30 May. Conversation round the table ranges across a broad range of issues of concern to the UK and Ukrainian LGBT communities, from how to ensure people's rights are respected to experience of different people in different countries. Yet again, it's great to see people from the UK and Ukraine getting together to swap ideas and  learn from each other.

Dimyon, a Quaker, celebrated the 25th anniversary of her own coming out by engaging in the tour to meet with LGBT groups across Europe. She said: "It's important to fight it when people are using religion and the Bible as an excuse for homophobia."