MP Chris Bryant has said that Britain has left a “shocking” legacy for LGBT people living in the Commonwealth.
The out MP Chris Bryant, speaking at the Diversity Role Model’s launch last week said that thanks to a British legal legacy, 90 percent of people living in Commonwealth countries live with a legal system that makes homosexuality illegal and in some places lethal.
He said,
“Somebody told me one of the most shocking statistics that I’ve heard in my life, which is that 90 per cent of the people that live in the Commonwealth, with British legacy therefore… live in a country where homosexuality is still illegal.
“Ninety per cent. That’s what we’ve given the world as our historic legacy.”
He went on to say that it was “extraordinary” that a country like Australia still does not offer its LGBT citizens same-sex marriage.
He added,
“It’s extraordinary to me that country that is so addicted to Abba like Australia is, still has no gay marriage or even same-sex unions. That seems absolutely extraordinary.”
Commonwealth countries where homosexuality is still illegal to include the popular holiday destinations: Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Maldives.
In Brunei and Northern Nigeria, you can land the death penalty if caught in a homosexual relationship.
Only 4 Commonwealth countries outside Great Britain recognise same-sex marriage. Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the Pitcairn Islands have all made same-sex marriage legal. The Pitcairn Islands is the smallest country in the world to have legalised same-sex marriage.
