First Lady Melania Trump honored female recipients with the “International Women of Courage Awards” on Tuesday afternoon, sharing that these awardees “prove that love can inspire extraordinary valor even in the face of vulnerability.”
The First Lady co-hosted the annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony at the State Department with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Dressed in a long, leopard print trench coat, Melania focused on the unique capability of these female advocates, activists, and leaders to act in the name of love.
“Today, we celebrate courage —a strength that is based in love,” she said.”This truth is illustrated through our honorees, who prove that love can inspire extraordinary valor even in the face of vulnerability.”
“Their remarkable stories are a testament to the power of love in practice — for family, community, and our world,” she continued. “This is especially evident in places where their passion defies convention and when it has been shown at great personal risk of stigma, persecution, or harm.”
This is the fifth year that Melania Trump has attended the event. Her predecessor, Jill Biden, previously gave an International Women of Courage award to a man who identifies as a woman named Alba Rueda, Argentina’s Special Envoy for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the first trans-identifying politician to hold a senior governmental position. Rueda had made a name for himself pushing pro-transgender policies in Argentina.
Awardees at Tuesday’s event included human rights defender Henriette Da; Hamas hostage survivor Amit Soussana; womens’ rights activist Major Velena Iga; Phillippines “Mama Ranger” Angelique Songco; human rights advocate Georgiana Pascu; women’s rights leader Zabib Musa Loro Bakhit; journalist Namini Wijedasa; and Yemeni advocate Amat Al-Salam Abdullah Abdo al-Hajj.