U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted bearded Eurovision 2014 song of the year winner Conchita Wurst and praised the drag performer's fight against discrimination and intolerance.
Wurst, whose real name is Tom Neuwirth, won the 2014 song contest for Austria in May, where she sang "Rise Like a Phoenix".
Ban and Wurst joined on stage at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna during the UN chief's speech about tolerance and the rights of the LGBT community.
Ban said she had turned the event into a "moment of human rights education" fighting for diversity and tolerance.
"I heard that she won this Eurovision Song Contest. I immediately knew that she was the star of the world. And congratulations. But what made her win so meaningful was the way she turned her victory in the song contest into an electrifying moment of human rights education,"
Wurst, addressing Ban and U.N. officials on Monday, again called for tolerance
Her victory was condemned by some social conservatives who remain subbornly opposed to the advancement of LGBT rights.
