Michael Kirby was among those pushing for glbti rights to be addressed Pressure to bring attention to overwhelming criminalisation of gay men and women in Commonwealth countries has failed to get any traction at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth. The issue has not been included in the CHOGM 2011 Communiqué that lists Commonwealth leaders’ priorities for the next two years, while HIV/AIDS received a brief mention. That's despite the subject energetically roaring into life before the meeting, when gay former Australian judge Michael Kirby made a powerful stand against homophobia in Commonwealth nations, saying persecuting gay people is to blame for HIV rates twice as high in the 54 nations as in the rest of the world. He said criminalising gay people was "sexual apartheid" and "Unless we take steps, a lot of our brothers and sisters in the Commonwealth are going to die." Kirby's call was based on the recommendations on HIV made by the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, which he is a member of, in its report that “Heads of Government should take steps to encourage the repeal of discriminatory laws that impede the effective response of Commonwealth countries to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and commit to programmes of education that would help a process of repeal of such laws.” The speech from Kirby was followed by historic dialogue from Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma on the eve of CHOGM that the Commonwealth is about democracy, development and diversity. "This means we embrace difference, and that includes sexual identity. Discrimination and criminalisation on the grounds of sexual orientation is opposed to our values and I have had occasion to refer to this in the context of our law-related conferences," he stated. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd kept true to his promise and called for Commonwealth nations to end laws targeting sexual minorities at a Foreign Ministers' meeting, with Canada reportedly the only other nation to do so at that particular gathering. UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been strong on gay rights since he came into office, has told the BBC he had also raised the issue of gay rights at the CHOGM, in speaking with "a number of African countries". He added that more pressure had been applied by Foreign Secretary William Hague, who deputised for him during parts of the Commonwealth summit. Cameron has even gone on to state that nations receiving British aid should respect gay rights. Foreign Minister Murray McCully represented New Zealand at CHOGM and has still not responded to a request from GayNZ.com Daily News for information on what stance, if any, he took on the issue on the nation's behalf. The situation remains that sex between men is a criminal act in at least 39 of the 54 Commonwealth nations, and the penalties include 25 years jail in Trinidad and Tobago and 20 years, plus flogging, in Malaysia. In Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh and Guyana the penalty is life imprisonment, while there have been, homophobic witch-hunts in Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ghana. You can discuss this story in the GayNZ.com forum here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 2nd November 2011 - 2:28pm