The city of Philadelphia has honoured Richard Gere with a Humanitarian Award .The actor was given the Marian Anderson Award in recognition of his activism on global issues.Gere has fought for the independence of Tibet fromChinese rule since the late seventies after a trip to Nepal in 1978.He became the co-founder of the Tibet House and the board chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet.He has also been a fighter for HIV/Aids awareness for the last twenty five years. He set up the Healing the Divide charity which aims to improve medical care for patients with HIV/AIDS.'I'm not worthy of this award in any way whatsoever. I can't tell you how this makes me feel. My heart is so wide open'. said Gere.The award is named after Marion Anderson the American opera singer who face racial segregation before going on to be the first black soloist to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

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