Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to raise the issue of LGBT+ rights with other Commonwealth nations.

​Ministers continue to urge Commonwealth countries to uphold the universality of human rights, to decriminalise same-sex relations and to pass laws to protect their LGBT+ people from violence and discrimination. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last year, the Prime Minister set out the UK's readiness to support any member state wanting to reform legislation which makes possible discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation. The Prime Minister was clear that, while we must respect one another's cultures and traditions, we must do so in a manner consistent with our common value of equality, a value which is clearly stated in the Commonwealth Charter.

The Government has allocated £5.6 million to enable the Equality and Justice Alliance – a consortium of civil society organisations – to support those countries who wish to reform legislation which discriminates on the grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation. Several member states have expressed interest in this offer of technical assistance for legislative change. Due to the highly sensitive and sometimes dangerous nature of this work, it would not be appropriate to name specific countries.