A speech I wrote for a job application that never went through-LGBTQ rights

Ladies and gentlemen,
On this day we are gathered here to talk about human rights, something that has been talked about for decades and appears quite straightforward and clear. Our presence here today shows that human rights for all are not a reality yet and we have to change that and give every human being their inherent rights to dignity and recognise the universal declarations of human rights as stating that. These rights apply to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Denying people their inherent rights and dignity because of their sexual orientation and identity violates not only the international laws and norms we swore to uphold but also our moral obligations to our fellow brothers and sisters. For long, the members of LGBTQ in Africa have faced discrimination, assaults, threats on their lives and being driven out  of their homes for being themselves and loving another human being, an act of love that should not generate hate and fear.  Today, the gay and lesbian communities in vast majority of African counties are facing more threats and their rights denied than any time in history. They are a minority not recognised by governments, invincible, and crimes against them ignored by authorities too often. For fear of harm, they are forced to live a lie, deny who they are, are they not sons and daughters of our mothers and fathers? Are they not human beings born free, are their lives not inherently valuable as ours? I speak about this because, Canadian history on human rights for LGBTQ members wasn’t as it is now, and we used to criminalise homosexuality and went as far as preventing gay men from immigrating, until late 1970’s. Many have endured violence, discrimination and bullying, thus, we recognise more has to be done globally and at home to uphold the sanctity of life and protect human rights.
Turning a blind eye to open discrimination and condoning hate and abuse is equivalent of shying away from our responsibility to protect, and uphold the rights of every citizen we represent, every human being born free. We will have to work together to counter hate, prejudice, and fear with love, courage, commitment, and cooperation among nations.
Thank you very much once again for your attention I look forward to our fruitful discussion.



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