Yes it's true that Anglican members of GAFCON helped put me here... all because I am gay!
Well... all I did was get a gay person some medical help!
Michael Kirby has made a powerful stand against homophobia in Commonwealth nations at an address in Perth in the official lead-up to CHOGM. He stated that HIV infection in Commonwealth countries is double that of non-Commonwealth countries, where homosexuality is outlawed in 41 of 54 Commonwealth nations (42 if you see the Sydney Diocese the way it does... as independent from Australia). Kirby said... countries which have been most successful at prevention are those which have reached out to the groups that are most at risk of HIV infection...If you don't reach out to those groups, if you stigmatise them, if you criminalise them, they will not come forward, they will not take the HIV test, they will not protect themselves and they will not protect their communities.... This is a human rights issue. It's discrimination against people for something they don't choose and can't change... Unless we take steps, a lot of our brothers and sisters in the Commonwealth are going to die.
Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, has called for each of the member nations to end the discrimination and criminalisation of gay people. He stated at the Commonwealth People’s Forum in Perth, that the Commonwealth is about democracy, development and diversity, 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 said.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has said that he will call for an end to the laws criminalising homosexuality at CHOGM. The Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has also said he will support the call, while British Prime Minister David Cameron has previously expressed support for moves that would improve lgbt rights in the Commonwealth.
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