Over 150 human rights activists including speakers from around the world came together in Glasgow on Friday to call for the Commonwealth to respect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
The call was issued at the day-long ‘LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth’ conference, which was organised to highlight the discriminatory environment faced by LGBTI people in some Commonwealth states.
Of the 53 Commonwealth states, 42 have laws that criminalise LGBTI people.
Conference participants issued a groundbreaking statement, condemning the Commonwealth’s record on LGBTI rights and calling for concrete action to improve the lives of LGBTI people. The statement calls on the Commonwealth to take seriously the many violations of the rights of LGBTI people and to work with member states to end the criminalisation and persecution of LGBTI people.
Organised by the Equality Network, the Kaleidoscope Trust, the Glasgow Human Rights Network and Pride Glasgow, keynote speakers included Fiona Hyslop MSP, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Dr Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, and Dr Purna Sen, former Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat and Chair of the Kaleidoscope Trust.
The Maltese Government, which will host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2015, was represented by Silvan Agius.
Monica Tabengwa, Human Rights Watch activist from Botswana said “It is unfortunate that the Commonwealth is so silent and non-committal on LGBTI human rights issues affecting members of the Commonwealth family. It is time now for this institution to get involved and come up with effective measures and guidelines for holding countries responsible for human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Commonwealth institutions have to commit resources to work with partners and friendly countries to counter the alien legacy of criminalisation.”
Bisi Alimi, LGBTI activist from Nigeria, added: “As the eyes of the world are focused on Commonwealth countries as athletes converge in Glasgow, it is important to align with LGBTI people of the Commonwealth. LGBTI people have had to bear the burden of not just colonial laws discriminating against many of them, but in the case of Nigeria, yet further criminalisation. This is why along with many other LGBTI people of the Commonwealth, I am calling for an end to hate, stigma and discrimination”
Dr. Matthew Waites from Glasgow Human Rights Network at the University of Glasgow, who contributed to the drafting of the statement, said: “This is a groundbreaking statement, fittingly passed on Mandela Day. Crucially the Call to Action first recognises that it was British colonial laws that criminalised same-sex sexual behaviour around the world. The statement takes a multidimensional approach to human rights, affirming LGBTI rights in relation to all forms of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. We’re delighted that the statement was supported by activists from many regions of the Commonwealth. It offers the Commonwealth important guidance as we head toward the next Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta next year.”
Scott Cuthbertson, Community Development Coordinator for the Equality Network, concluded: “We are very grateful to colleagues from all around the Commonwealth who came to the conference in Glasgow to share their experiences and draw up this Call to Action. This is an issue that needs attention, and we commend the call to action to the Commonwealth and its members. We hope that the Scottish and UK Governments will give their support to taking this work forward.”
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