Leading LGBTQ+ rights group hopes the Commonwealth Games can expose inequalities – with FIVE THIRDS of competing nations continuing to criminalize same-sex relationships
LGBTQ+ rights group hopes Commonwealth Games can be a vehicle for change
Thirty-five Commonwealth countries still criminalize same-sex relationships
The LGBTQ+ rights group hopes the inequalities they face are highlighted
They hope the event sheds light on threats to community security
They also want conversations to take place on some of the key inclusion issues
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The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham can be a means of highlighting where inequalities remain, a global LGBTQ+ rights group hopes.
According to data from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), 35 Commonwealth countries continue to criminalize homosexual relations.
The multi-sport event kicks off on Thursday with an opening ceremony, before which a meeting of Commonwealth sports ministers will take place in the city on Wednesday.
LGBTQ+ rights group hopes the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer can be a vehicle for change by highlighting where inequalities remain
Chamindra Weerawardhana, the senior advisor to ILGA World’s Gender Identity & Expression and Sex Characteristics Program, hopes bringing people together from around the world can shed light on the security threats that people from the LGBTQ+ community continue to face .
“Sport has the power to bring communities together, and events such as the Commonwealth Games can also be important moments to highlight where inequalities persist within these communities,” said Dr. Weerawardhana.
To date, 35 Commonwealth member states continue to criminalize same-sex consensual sexual relations. Governments often claim that these laws are ‘dormant’, but our research shows that how – and how often – they are actually enforced abruptly and in unpredictable ways, leaving both our communities on the ground and asylum seekers who managed to flee under constant threat. .
The multi-sport event kicks off with an opening ceremony on Thursday, before which a meeting of Commonwealth sports ministers will take place in the city on Wednesday.
“We are seeing some progress, for example with the Supreme Court in Antigua and Barbuda finding criminal laws unconstitutional, or the landmark decision by a UN commission on a case brought by an activist from Sri Lanka that criminalized intimacy between same-sex women is a violation of human rights.
“However, violence and discrimination persist and continue to exclude millions of people from full participation in society. And if this happens, we all lose.’
Opened last week in Birmingham’s Gay Village, ahead of the start of the Games, Pride House provides a safe space for LGBTQ+ athletes, but also welcomes people from outside the community to have challenging conversations about some of the key inclusion issues within sports, such as transgender policy.