Pelosi to be Honored by Maryland LGBT Group

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will honored by a Maryland LBGT rights organization with a lifetime achievement award for her activism in the gay rights movement., the Washington Times reports.

Matt Thorn, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore, told the Baltimore Sun that Pelosi's "unending support for our community and commitment for equality make her the perfect choice for our lifetime achievement award." Pelosi will be presented with the award on Nov. 17 at the group's Hometown Hero Awards & Champaign Brunch.

"[It is] a great privilege for me to come home to Baltimore and celebrate the progress we've made in the fight for equality," Pelosi said, in a statement. "[I'm] particularly touched to be honored by the GLCCB and my hometown community after such a banner year for Marylanders and indeed all LGBT families across our country."

About 500 people are expected to attend the event. The award will honor Pelosi, a Democrat, for her "longtime dedication to LGBT rights and her work to fight HIV/AIDS in Congress," members of the group said, according to the Sun.

The Human Rights Campaign gave Pelosi a 100 percent rating for her support on LGBT issues and pro-gay measures. She's long stood against the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 federal measure that bans same-sex marriages, as well as California's Proposition 8. Though she is Catholic, she said that her religion guides her to be against discrimination and says the ban on marriage equality is "a form of discrimination. I think its unconstitutional on top of that."

More recently, Pelosi criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for an Op-Ed piece he wrote for the New York Times.

While Pelosi said it was "great" Putin said that all people are created equal under God, she pointed out Russia's "homosexual propaganda" law, which Putin signed into law this summer.

"I hope it applies to gays and lesbians in Russia as well," Pelosi said.