Charles heckled over Britain’s homophobic past

Around 50 activists from the Peter Tatchell Foundation and partner groups protested outside Westminster Abbey during the Commonwealth service. They shouted for King Charles to apologise for his predecessor monarchs imposing anti-LGBTQ+ laws on colonies across the British Empire.

Campaigners from Uganda, Bangladesh and other Commonwealth nations, gathered outside the abbey. They highlighted the fact that 29 Commonwealth countries still criminalise same-sex relationships. Nearly all of these laws derive from Britain’s colonial-era penal codes. Most former colonies retained these statutes after independence.

The LGBTQ+ campaigners from Commonwealth countries where being gay is still a crime marched to Buckingham Palace to deliver a formal letter to Charles. It urges him, as head of the Commonwealth, to uphold the Commonwealth Charter, speak out for LGBTQ+ equality and apologise for previous monarchs authorising the imposition of anti-LGBTQ+ laws on Britain’s colonies. These laws continue to cause great harm to LGBTQ+ people.

You can read the letter here.

Peter Tatchell, director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, said:

The criminalisation of LGBT+ people across most of the Commonwealth was imposed through British colonial rule and in the name of successive monarchs. These laws were exported from Westminster and embedded in penal codes in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Pacific.

An apology from the King would not interfere in the sovereignty of Commonwealth nations. It would acknowledge historical truth and be consistent with the human rights principles of the Commonwealth Charter. Decriminalisation is not Western interference – criminalisation was.

Abbey Kiwanuka, Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist from Out and Proud African LGBTI, said:

In Uganda and elsewhere, politicians often claim anti-gay laws defend ‘African values.’ But these laws were introduced by British colonial authorities. They are not indigenous traditions — they are colonial exports.

When the Head of the Commonwealth acknowledges this history, it strengthens our human rights struggle. An apology would give hope to LGBTs facing imprisonment, violence and discrimination.

The Peter Tatchell Foundation is urging the Commonwealth to live up to its Charter commitment to equality, human rights and dignity for all.

Featured image via The Peter Tatchell Foundation