Commonwealth anti-gay laws are a colonial hang-over.
| Urge Commonwealth leaders to discuss LGBTI rights |  | | Sign Now | | | Annisa, The next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will take place in the UK in April 2018. We urge the CHOGM 2018 organisers to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) human rights on the main CHOGM agenda and to invite openly LGBTI people from the Commonwealth to address the CHOGM leaders. Take action and sign our petition now. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) has never in its entire six-decade history discussed LGBTI human rights. The time has come. Sign our petition to Commonwealth leaders now. 36 out of the 52 member countries of the Commonwealth criminalise same-sex relations. They account for half of the world̢۪s nations where homosexuality is illegal. Most of these countries inherited their anti-gay laws from Britain during the period of colonial rule; making these laws a colonial hangover. At least eight of these 36 countries have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for same-sex acts and there is the death penalty in parts of northern Nigeria and rural Pakistan. Hate crimes against LGBTI people often pass unchecked in most Commonwealth countries, with frequent mob violence. The vast majority of LGBTI people living in Commonwealth states have no legal protection against discrimination in employment, housing and the provision of goods and services. This makes a mockery of Commonwealth values and the Commonwealth Charter of 2013. Four out of five Commonwealth countries, which are signatories to the Charter, have failed to adhere to its principles. The Commonwealth has failed to ensure that these nations respect the human rights of their LGBTI citizens. We urge CHOGM 2018 to lead the way in raising awareness of LGBTI rights as human rights and to act to remedy LGBTI rights abuses. We appeal to you to help us achieve this by signing our petition. Thank you,  | | Edwin Sesange
Care2 Member
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