Each year the New Ulm Human Rights Commission selects an individual or organization to receive its annual Human Rights Award. The Human Rights Commission is currently accepting nominations for its 2023 Award.
The recipient of the New Ulm Human Rights Commission annual Human Rights award should be an individual, activists, organizations or businesses in the New Ulm area that have worked toward social justice and the betterment of life for a protected class; a person or organization that has made a significant contribution to the preservation and advancement of Human Rights.
Human Rights are considered the fundamental rights that humans have by the fact of being human, and that are neither created nor can be abrogated by any government. These include cultural, economic, and political rights, such as right to life, liberty, education and equality before law, and right of association, belief, free speech, information, religion, movement, and nationality.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights is the state agency within the Governor’s Cabinet responsible for enforcing the Minnesota Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Act is a state law prohibiting discrimination in Minnesota.
Every person in Minnesota is protected by the Human Rights Act because every person, based on their personal characteristics such as a person’s race or sex, belongs to one or more of the protected classes below:
- Race
- Color
- Creed
- Religion
- National Origin
- Sex
- Marital Status
- Familial Status
- Disability
- Public Assistance Status
- Age
- Sexual Orientation
- Local Human Rights Commission Activity
To nominate an individual, business or organization, obtain a nomination form by contacting Lisa Grathwohl at City Hall, LisaG@newulmmn.gov or 507.359.8235 or the City’s website www.newulmmn.gov. Nomination deadline is November 17, 2023. The Commission will discuss the nominations at their November 27th meeting.