40 of the 53 Commonwealth member states continue to criminalise homosexuality, many under archaic Sodomy laws, which are a hang-over from British colonial rule.
Lobbyists have long urged the UK government to take a strong stance on the issue, given the British legacy behind many of the homophobic laws – but LGBT issues are still considered deeply divisive, and have not openly been on the table at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 66 years.
However, the UK government has appeared to confirm that Prime Minister David Cameron used last year’s CHOGM in Malta to privately raise the issue.
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