Tackling Inequalities Ahead Of Games

Equality campaigners are to gather in Glasgow just days before the Commonwealth Games get underway.

Over 250 equality campaigners from Scotland and around the world will gather in Glasgow today on the eve of the 2014 Commonwealth Games for a special conference that seeks to shine a light on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) human rights in the Commonwealth. 

The Equality Network, the Scottish LGBTI equality charity, is organising the conference in partnership with the Glasgow Human Rights Network, the Kaleidoscope Trust, and Pride Glasgow, to ensure that LGBTI equality and human rights in the Commonwealth are high on the political agenda as the world’s media covers the Games.
 
The charity says much of the Commonwealth has a very poor record on LGBTI human rights, pointing out that 42 of the 53 member nations currently criminalise same-sex relations, with state-sanctioned punishments ranging from imprisonment to the death penalty. The majority of these laws were originally imposed by the British Empire.
 
The conference will bring together LGBTI activists from across the Commonwealth to highlight the human rights situation and discuss the best ways to make progress. Speakers will include Fiona Hyslop MSP, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Dr Frank Mugisha, director of the national LGBTI organisation in Uganda, one of the Commonwealth countries with worse recent record on criminalising LGBTI people, Dr Purna Sen, former Head of Human Rights for the Commonwealth Secretariat, and other leading LGBTI equality campaigners from across Commonwealth countries including Nigeria, India, Malaysia, Guyana, Botswana, Australia, Malta, England and Scotland.  
 
Scott Cuthbertson, Community Development Coordinator at the Equality Network, said; 

"With the eyes of the world on the Glasgow 2014 Games this is an important opportunity to highlight the discriminatory record of the Commonwealth on LGBTI equality and human rights, and to put pressure on the world’s governments to ensure LGBTI people are afforded equal rights and respect instead of prejudice and persecution. In the majority of Commonwealth countries LGBTI people continue to be denied basic human rights, equal access to education, employment, housing and healthcare. Some are denied their liberty, and in the most extreme cases, their lives. Our conference is a unique opportunity to hear from hugely courageous activists from countries that criminalise LGBTI people and to discuss what support we in Scotland should provide."

The conference is part of a package of activities the Equality Network is organising around the Games to highlight the LGBTI human rights situation in the Commonwealth. The charity will also host an ‘LGBTI people of the Commonwealth’ exhibition which will tour across Scotland, and will hold a protest against LGBTI human rights abuses during Pride Glasgow on Saturday 19 July.
 
The Equality Network has welcomed that, in stark contrast to the anti-equality stance taken by the Russian government during the Sochi Winter Olympics 2013, the Scottish Government is actively supporting efforts to promote LGBTI equality during the Glasgow Games.
 
Fiona Hyslop MSP, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, said; 

"Having countries of the Commonwealth present in Scotland provides us with the opportunity to engage with leaders and to showcase the many benefits of an LGBTI inclusive society. The Scottish Government considers equality and human rights to be crucial to everything we do. International engagement should be used as an opportunity to help increase respect for, and understanding of, human rights worldwide. This Government is committed to protecting, respecting and realising human rights – we condemn abuse of these wherever they occur, and would encourage all those visiting Scotland for the Games to reflect on those universal values of humanity, destiny and equality and what they mean for the Commonwealth today."
 
Leading international LGBTI human rights activists have welcomed the conference, which will include activists from countries like Uganda, where homosexuality remains criminalised.
 
Dr Frank Mugisha, Chief Executive of Uganda's national LGBTI rights organisation SMUG, who will deliver a keynote speech at the conference;

"This conference is important because we want the Commonwealth to address the discriminatory laws in place across member countries, we desperately need an open dialogue that will see the end of these laws in countries like Uganda where further criminalization is taking place."
 
Alistair Stewart, Assistant Director of the Kaleidoscope Trust, said; 

"Despite positive statements in the new Commonwealth Charter and tentative support from the Secretary General Kamlesh Sharma, the voices of LGBTI people in the Commonwealth are too often ignored. The Glasgow Games are a fantastic opportunity to remind the Commonwealth that LGBTI people continue to face criminalisation, discrimination and persecution in every Commonwealth country and a great platform to raise awareness of the amazing work of LGBTI organisations and communities are doing, often in the face of unimaginable odds."
 
Dr Matthew Waites of Glasgow Human Rights Network at University of Glasgow, said; 

"We are looking forward to hosting this conference at the University of Glasgow. It is an occasion to recognise that British colonialism's legal legacy is primarily responsible for the international criminalisation of same-sex sexual relationships.  More than half of states which criminalise same-sex love are in the Commonwealth."