Rauda Morcos

Rauda Morcos, Arabic: روضة مرقص , (born 1974) is a well-known Palestinian lesbian activist. She started Aswat (أصوات), the first Palestinian group for lesbian rights. In 2006, she received the Felipa de Souza Award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (Now called OutRight Action International). 
In 2002, Morcos joined the first online group for Palestinian lesbians in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In 2003, she was outed after she gave an interview to an Israeli newspaper. Morcos asked that her sexual orientation not be published. But the newspaper wrote “lesbian” in the headline and printed her photograph. After Morcos's sexual orientation was made public, she was harassed and physically assaulted. Her car was vandalized many times. She lost her job. She volunteered her time at Aswat until the organization had enough money to hire her.