LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II, in her annual honor roll of Britons who have made a contribution to the United Kingdom, has bestowed honors on a politician who blamed gay people for Hurricane Katrina, as well as several LGBT rights advocates.
Maurice Mills, a Democratic Unionist Party councilor from Northern Ireland who claims that AIDS is the result of the “filthy practice of sodomy,” has been awarded a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s New Year honors list.
On Hurricane Katrina, the politician once said: “The media failed to report that the hurricane occurred just two days prior to the annual homosexual event called the Southern Decadence festival which the previous year had attracted an estimated 125,000 people.”
“Surely this is a warning to nations where such wickedness is increasingly promoted and practiced,” he said.
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Mills was recognized “for services to local government.”
Five LGBT rights advocates also made it to the Queen’s honors list:
Jerry Broughton received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for founding FFLAG, the organization for Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
Carol Ann Duffy, the first out Scottish lesbian to ever be named poet laureate in the UK in 2009, who is known for her work which addresses gender, oppression and violence, was made a Dame.
Nigel George Warner, a former advisor to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Association (ILGA), was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in honor of contribution to fight for LGBTI equality worldwide.
Jay Stewart, PhD, received an OBE for founding the Gendered Intelligence organization that helps the UK’s transgender community.
Jenny-Anne Christine Bishop was also honored with an OBE for her gender identity campaign work.
The list of honorees is traditionally selected by the British government, and not the Queen herself.
