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A transgender girl combating to shut down U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention facilities is that this yr’s recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award — an honor bestowed by the advocacy group meant to stick with it RFK’s legacy and based by his daughter, Kerry Kennedy.
Arely Westley, an LGBTQ+ and immigration activist who identifies as a “trans-Latinx woman,” would be the forty first recipient of the award, which was introduced over the weekend. The group stated Westley shall be acknowledged throughout an official ceremony in June.
The Human Rights award “honors an individual or group of individuals who stand up to oppression at grave personal risk in the nonviolent pursuit of human rights,” in accordance to its web site.
Westley is the primary transgender girl to obtain the award, the group confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Kerry Kennedy speaks throughout the 2021 RFK Ripple Of Hope Gala on the New York Hilton Midtown on Dec. 9, 2021 in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
“From her anti-detention work to her support of LGBTQ+ youth, Arely is a true force for social justice,” Kerry Kennedy stated over the weekend. “The difference between a victim and a hero is activism with a loving heart. Arely has used her personal experiences to fuel her advocacy and build a better, more just world. We are honored to recognize her efforts and continue working alongside her.”
Westley, a Honduras native, was detained in 2022 on the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. Once launched, RFK Human Rights claims Westley started main “multiple shutdown campaigns,” calling for the closure of ICE detention services which have a “history of documented abuse.” According to RFK Human Rights, Westley suffered “egregious human rights violations” and was held in solitary confinement for further safety.
Westley at the moment serves as a marketing campaign director at BreakOUT!, a corporation that seeks to “end the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth who are directly impacted by the criminal or juvenile justice system in New Orleans.”
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A transgender flag unfurled on a pole. (Getty Images)
“I feel honored to accept this award on behalf of my trans community, standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, who were indigenous to these lands now known as the Americas, where today my trans Latina sisters and I are vilified, caged, and abused,” Westley stated in an announcement. “But these systems of dehumanizing greed have grossly underestimated us. We are the flowering buds whose deep roots break through the concrete that those in power deign to walk all over, but our beauty, love and brilliance cannot be and we will not be denied.”
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The signal of The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement constructing is seen in Washington D.C. on Jan. 5, 2023. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency through Getty Images)
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According to its web site, RFK Human Rights advocates “for human rights issues and pursues strategic litigation to hold governments accountable at home and around the world.”
“We foster a social good approach to business, celebrate agents of change, and to ensure change that lasts, we educate millions of students about human rights, training the next generation of leaders,” the web site reads.
Previous laureates embody Archbishop Michael Kpakala Francis, who advocated for peace in Liberia (1999), Kenyan warfare prisoner Gibson Kamau Kuria (1988), Chinese activist in opposition to the communist celebration and physicist, Fang Lizhi (1989), Brazilian activist for the poor and former seminarian Darci Frigo (2001), amongst others.
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