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VIENNA / CONCHITA WURST
STORY: VIENNA / CONCHITA WURST
TRT: 2.44
SOURCE: UNIS VIENNA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 3 NOVEMBER 2014, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
3 NOVEMBER 2014, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Wide shot, exterior Vienna International Centre
2. Various shots, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Conchita Wurst walking
3. Close up, Ban
4. Various shots, Ban and Wurst talking in Ban’s office
5. Close up, teabag being dipped into cup of tea
6. Wide shot, Wurst dipping a teabag into cup of tea
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Conchita Wurst, Winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest:
"You know, I never imagined that somebody finds it that necessary [for] me to be here, you know, so this is an overwhelming honour."
8. Close up, Wurst’s hands
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Conchita Wurst, Winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest:
"Everybody wants to be respected, everybody. And this is the point where for me it starts to be a bit difficult, because I think you just can receive respect if you respect people. So this is the thing we have to work on."
10. Close up, Wurst’s hands
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Conchita Wurst, Winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest:
“I definitely plan to go outside Europe, of course, I want to see the world, and if it’s not because of my music, I just need to see the world, I need to collect experiences.”
12. Close up, smartphone filming Wurst’s performance
13. SOUND UP Wurst performing "Rise like a Phoenix"
14. Wide shot, Wurst on stage to audience applause
15. Med shot, audience
16. Med shot, Ban and Wurst shaking hands on stage
17. Wide shot, Ban and Wurst on stage
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"As United Nations Secretary-General, I am proud to champion the cause of equality for all members of our human family no matter who they are or whom they love."
19. Med shot, Hilda-Olivia Sarkissian with friends
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Hilda-Olivia Sarkissian, the first UN staff member in Vienna to receive benefits for her same-sex spouse under the new policy:
“I think it was very courageous of him, and it’s time, it’s more than time to have had this happen.”
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Conchita Wurst, Winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest:
"I dream of a future where we don’t have to talk about sexual orientation, colour of your skin, your religious beliefs, because this is not important when it comes to society. Of course it’s important for the human being, but it’s not important for society. And I would welcome you to join us, to join those people who think of this future."
22. Wide shot, Wurst giving autographs
At the United Nations' Vienna headquarters, Austrian winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, Conchita Wurst, met today (3 Nov) with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The unlikely pair's meeting during Ban's three-day visit to Austria was billed as an effort to highlight the importance of mutual respect and tolerance and raise awareness about the rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.
Wurst, aka Tom Neuwirth by birth, performs as a female persona which Neuwirth created after struggling with discrimination as a gay teenage boy.
In an interview, Wurst talked about how far she has come.
She said “I never imagined that somebody finds it that necessary [for] me to be here, you know, so this is an overwhelming honour."
Even today not everyone loves Wurst. But she is determined to go on spreading her message of tolerance.
She stressed "everybody wants to be respected, everybody. And this is the point where for me it starts to be a bit difficult, because I think you just can receive respect if you respect people. So this is the thing we have to work on."
And not just in Europe, Wurst added “I definitely plan to go outside Europe, of course, I want to see the world, and if it’s not because of my music, I just need to see the world, I need to collect experiences.”
At the UN she also sang 'Rise Like A Phoenix' the song that won her the Eurovision and turned even the Secretary-General into a fan.
Speaking at the event in front of an audience of staff, diplomats and invited guests, Ban called Wurst’s Eurovision win "an electrifying moment of human rights education".
He commended Wurst for confounding people’s preconceived ideas of gender and sexuality and appealing to them to accept her as she is.
Ban said "as United Nations Secretary-General, I am proud to champion the cause of equality for all members of our human family no matter who they are or whom they love."
The UN itself began recognizing the status of all staff members in legal same-sex marriages earlier this year.
Hilda-Olivia Sarkissian, the first UN staff member in Vienna to receive benefits for her same-sex spouse under the new policy, said “I think it was very courageous of him, and it’s time, it’s more than time to have had this happen.”
Finally, Conchita said "I dream of a future where we don’t have to talk about sexual orientation, colour of your skin, your religious beliefs, because this is not important when it comes to society. Of course it’s important for the human being, but it’s not important for society. And I would welcome you to join us, to join those people who think of this future."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been an outspoken supporter of decriminalizing consensual same-sex relationships, and tackling violence and discrimination against LGBTI people.
According to the UN's human rights arm, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), deeply-embedded homophobic and transphobic attitudes, often combined with a lack of adequate legal protection against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, expose many LGBTI people of all ages and in all regions of the world to egregious violations of their human rights.
They are discriminated against in the labour market, in schools and in hospitals, mistreated and disowned by their own families. They are singled out for physical attack - beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured and killed. And in some 76 countries, discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex relationships, exposing individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and even, in at least five countries, the death penalty.
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