Ian McKellen joins march against 'appalling' LGBTQ+ laws in Commonwealth

The protest in central London targeted laws in 29 Commonwealth countries that keep same-sex relationships illegal. In six of those countries, LGBTQ+ people can face life imprisonment, while Uganda and Nigeria still retain the death penalty. The march, called the “Commonwealth Walk of Shame,” began outside the Nigerian High Commission and then moved to the high commissions of Uganda, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad & Tobago, Ghana, Jamaica, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The event was organised by the Peter Tatchell Foundation and the Out and Proud African LGBTI Network, with Ian McKellen and Nigerian activist Babatunde Akanwale Osunseyi addressing participants.

"When Britain had an empire, it introduced into countries far away from here the laws that we had in this country, including the laws against gay people. Those laws have quite rightly been repealed in this country where gay people live freely and openly alongside the rest of the population. But those old laws, those British laws, those foreign laws remain stuck in the remnants of the British Empire now known as the Commonwealth."

Read at Irish Independent