The Commonwealth anti-gay conundrum

By Lionel Gayle

FORTY-FOUR years after the United Kingdom repealed its sodomy laws against “consensual homosexual acts in private,” former British colonies – now members of the prestigious Commonwealth of Nations – still prosecute citizens deemed guilty of homosexual activities.

David Cameron

And there’s no indication that these independent nations will repeal their buggery laws anytime soon. In the meantime, hordes of people engaged in same-sex activities live in the 41 Commonwealth countries that “still classify same-sex sexual conduct as illegal.”

Although the matter was brought up at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held in Perth, Western Australia (October 28-30, 2011), the discussions concluded without any promising outlook for gays and lesbians.

But Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, saw a different picture. He told the BBC the CHOGM, in an internal report, had recommended a stop to “bans on homosexuality,” even though the three-day summit had “failed to reach agreement” on human rights reform.

A Human Rights Watch report, among other things, had said the out-dated buggery laws “invade privacy, create inequality by relegating people to inferior status, degrade people’s dignity by declaring them unnatural.”

So far, the Commonwealth has maintained that “Most ‘anti-sodomy’ laws were imposed during the colonial era, based on British law and introduced to British colonies.” Since India first adopted this law in the late 19^th century, “Many countries have kept sodomy provisions on their law books long after independence,” says a paper issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

At the recent meeting, many interested parties had expected encouraging response to Australia’s Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd’s address in which he called on member states to repeal their sodomy laws “targeting sexual minorities.”

Disappointingly, his presentation seemed “to have fallen on deaf ears,” said an edition of Star Online, a gay and lesbian newspaper in Australia. The publication noted that the “decriminalisation of LGBTIs,” received “no mention in the CHOGM 2011 Communiqué that lists Commonwealth leaders’ priorities for the next two years.”

The CHOGM is held every two years.  Sri Lanka will host the next summit in 2013.

A review of the communiqué, released online by the Commonwealth Secretariat, doesn’t show any listing for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) group on its seventeen-point agenda.

Meanwhile, several Commonwealth countries are up in arms over Cameron’s threat “to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.” In the BBC report, he stressed that recipients of aid from the UK should “adhere to proper human rights” and added that “British aid should have more strings attached.”

If this is any consolation, Britain’s intention is not to aid-starve any of the countries it had weaned after years of colonialism and dependency. The BBC website says Cameron’s threat “applies only to one type of bilateral aid known as general budget, and would not reduce the overall amount of aid to any one country.”

Presently, thirty per cent (30%) of the world’s Seven Billion citizens live in the 54 countries that make up the Commonwealth of Nations. All 54 states – including Fiji who is currently on suspension – were British colonies, except Mozambique and Rwanda who were colonised by Portugal and Belgium, respectively.

One key question comes to fore in this discussion: If Britain cuts its aid, will the lack of funds interrupt HIV/AIDS programs that are allegedly linked to homosexuality in Africa and the Caribbean?

See next post for conclusion of this discourse.