Controversial campaigner Peter Tatchell dedicated his honorary degree to women in Middle East countries “struggling against patriarchal tyranny and Islamist extremism”.
The human rights campaigner accepted his degree at Abertay University’s winter graduation ceremony in the Caird Hall on November 23.
The Australian-born Brit has fought for a number of causes over the years such as lobbying the UK Government to allow same-sex marriage.
In his acceptance speech, he said the “bravery, tenacity and sacrifice” of women in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was inspiring.
Mr Tatchell said: “Looking back at my almost 52 years of human rights campaigning, my advice to the graduands is be sceptical, question authority, be a rebel.
“Do not conform and don’t be ordinary.
“Remember, all human progress is the result of far-sighted people challenging orthodoxy and tradition and challenging rich, powerful, vested interests.
“Be daring, show imagination, take risks.”
Mr Tatchell also told the room to “fight against one of the greatest human rights violations of all: free market capitalism”.
He blamed free enterprise for creating a “world divided into rich and poor”, where “hundreds of millions of people are malnourished, homeless, without sanitation and clean drinking water and who are dying from hunger and preventable diseases”.
He encouraged the graduands to not “accept the world as it is” and to “dream about what the would could be, then make it happen”.
He concluded: “In whatever field of endeavour you work, be a change-maker for the upliftment of humanity”.
