NEWS
Get the latest LGBTI+ news from our members across the Commonwealth.
From partying at Pride to changing the law – the journey towards advancing LGBTI+ rights in Mauritius
By Abdool Ridwan (Ryan) Firaas Ah Seek, President, Collectif Arc-en-Ciel This article from one of The Commonwealth Equality Network's members, Collectif Arc-en-Ciel, first appeared on the Royal Commonwealth Society's Commonwealth Youth and Gender Equality Network...
Statement from the Commonwealth Equality Network on Ghana’s Anti-LGBTI+ Bill
The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) strongly condemns the passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill by the parliament of Ghana. This Bill, which imposes severe penalties including imprisonment for identifying as LGBTI+, forming or funding...
Reflections on Advocacy Week
Alistair Stewart, Head of The Commonwealth Equality Network Secretariat From Monday 29 January to Thursday 1 February the Management Committee of the Commonwealth Equality Network convened in London, England for their annual Advocacy Week. This was the first Advocacy...
Challenging laws and changing perceptions in Kiribati
Tebeio Tamton is the Co-Founder of Boutokaan Inaomataia ao Mauriia Binabinaine Association (BIMBA), an LGBT+ advocacy and activism civil society organisation that is a member of The Commonwealth Equality Network. BIMBA works to end violence and discrimination...
The Commonwealth Equality Network welcomes the removal of anti-LGBTI+ law in Mauritius
Decision of the Supreme Court is an historic moment in the fight for LGBTI+ equality in the Commonwealth The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) welcomes the decision of Mauritius’ Supreme Court, ruling that a law criminalising same-sex sexual activity between men is...
TCEN statement on passage of Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda
The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) is devastated to learn of the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. We stand in solidarity with LGBTI+ Ugandans, who were already criminalised and now face even harsher penalties simply for being who they are. As...
Religion and LGBTI+ rights in the Commonwealth
It is undeniable that religion and LGBTI+ rights have what can only be described as a ‘difficult relationship’. Across the Commonwealth, leaders from many different mainstream religions have argued that their faith justifies discrimination, stigma and even violence...
TCEN Statement on Uganda
The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) stands in solidarity with Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community as we learn of the Ugandan Government's actions to deregister and suppress non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that support LGBTQI+ people. LGBTI+ people in Uganda...
VACANCIES: CONSULTANT TO DELIVER LGBT ADVOCACY WORKSHOP
These are just some of the questions we intend to address during a Learning Workshop thatKaleidoscope Trust (KT) plans to host for the cross-learning benefit of LGBT+ organisationsoperating in the Commonwealth. The workshop is scheduled to take place in February 2023...
TCEN Statement
The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) is alarmed and concerned about recent reports from Zambia of a wave of discrimination and attacks against LGBTI+ people and stands in strong support of the Zambian LGBTI+ community. Over the past couple of months, there has...
TCEN Statement
The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) stands shoulder to shoulder with our friends, siblings and colleagues in Uganda. The shuttering of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), Uganda's leading civil society organisation fighting for the rights of LGBTI Ugandans, is a...
Capacity Development Interventions for LGBT+ Organisations operating in Commonwealth Countries
Background information Kaleidoscope Trust is a founding member and host to the Secretariat of The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN), the first civil society network to sustainably advocate on behalf of LGBT+ people in the Commonwealth. Since its foundation in 2013,...
Toolkits on Financial Management and Strategic Planning
We are happy to announce that the following toolkits, developed by Kaleidoscope Trust in collaboration with the invited experts under the FCDO-funded Fighting the Reversing Tide project, are now available for the organisations and partners we work with.The first one...
TCEN proposals at CHOGM 2022
Key priorities and asks Provide sustainable funding: Funding and investment for LGBTI+ organisations, programming, and services. a. Effective, long-term, and consistent financial investment for civil society organisations and service providers who support LGBTI+...
CEDAW committee rules that criminalisation of same-sex intimacy between women is a human rights violation
In March 2022, in a landmark decision by The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Sri Lanka was found to be violating the rights of a lesbian and leading LGBTI activist who was subjected to discrimination, threats and...
TCEN POLICY TRACKER
The Commonwealth Policy Tracker. Using its interactive functions, you will be able to explore several key indicators linked to equality and sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and track relevant policy developments across Commonwealth member...
The Commonwealth Equality Network responds to the controversy surrounding the UK’s Safe to Be Me conference
The Commonwealth Equality Network would like to extend our solidarity and appreciation to the LGBTI+ communities and organisations in the United Kingdom, who have stood up and spoken out against the treatment of trans persons by the UK Government. As a network...
Commonwealth Day 2022 – Delivering a Common Future
To mark Commonwealth Day 2022, The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) would like to express its pride in and admiration of the work undertaken by its members over the past two years. Although LGBTI persons across the Commonwealth faced discrimination, violence and...
External Evaluation of the Fighting the Reversing Tide Project
Kaleidoscope Trust is seeking a consultant/consultancy team to undertake an external evaluation of the Fighting the Reversing Tide Project.
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS FOR MEMBER ORGANISATIONS OF TCEN
Background: Founded in 2011, Kaleidoscope Trust works to uphold the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) people in countries around the world where they are discriminated against or marginalised due to their sexual orientation, gender...
Statement on Tonga volcanic eruption
The Commonwealth Equality Network is deeply concerned about our friends and colleagues at the Tonga Leitis Association (TLA), the people of the Kingdom of Tonga and Fiji and those across the Pacific Islands who have been impacted by the devastating eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai and the tsunami that followed.
The Commonwealth Equality Network on Human Rights Day 2021
In many countries across the Commonwealth, the rights ostensibly enshrined to LGBTI+ people at birth are violated, time and again, owing to a legacy of harm resulting from discriminatory laws made many years ago, and upheld by those who do not believe warrant the same protections as other citizens.
We do.
Global Affairs Canada supports The Commonwealth Equality Network to address inequality and discrimination in the world
In 35 out of the 54 countries that make up the Commonwealth of Nations, being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or gender-diverse (LGBTI+) is still considered a criminal offence, sometimes punishable with up to 15 years of imprisonment – or even the death penalty....
Consultancy Opportunity: TCEN Learning and Development Needs Assessment
Background: Founded in 2011, Kaleidoscope Trust works to uphold the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) people in countries around the world where they are discriminated against or marginalised due to their sexual orientation, gender...
Consultancy Opportunity
Kaleidoscope Trust is a founding member and host to the Secretariat of The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN), the first civil society network to sustainably advocate on behalf of LGBT+ people in the Commonwealth. Since its foundation in 2013, TCEN has actively...
LGBTI+ People in the Commonwealth in the Covid Era: An Update
LGBTI+ People in the Commonwealth in the Covid Era: An Update As we noted in our 2020 LGBTI+ in the Commonwealth in the Covid-19 Era report, the pandemic has “disrupted on a scale which has left almost no corner of the Commonwealth untouched and no person unaffected...
Vacancy: Research Consultants – LGBT+ Realities Affected by COVID-19 in The Commonwealth
We are seeking five research consultants to deliver research in collaboration with the TCEN Secretariat, the TCEN Management Committee, its membership and all other relevant stakeholders Kaleidoscope Trust is a founding member and host to the Secretariat of The...
The Commonwealth Equality Network announces grants of up to £12,000 to support member organisations during COVID-19 pandemic
The Commonwealth Equality Network (TCEN) has announced a series of grants for TCEN member organisations working to bring about positive legislative, policy and social change for LGBT+ people in their respective countries and regions across the Commonwealth. The grants...
LGBTI+ in the Commonwealth in the COVID-19 Era
COVID-19 is having drastic effects across the world – and a disproportionate impact on marginalised communities. We spoke to members of The Commonwealth Equality Network to gain insight into the ways in which the crisis is impacting their work, their lives and their...
TCEN WINS GAY TIMES HONOUR FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TRAILBLAZER
On November 21st, representatives of the TCEN Secretariat appeared at the GAY TIMES Honours 500 ceremony, which honours queer people and their allies who have had a profound impact on the community over the last 12 months.
Malta Declaration on Resilience
The combined efforts of civil society from around the Commonwealth have produced a new declaration on governance for resilience to be submitted to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta. The Malta declaration contains substantive...
Video: Joleen Mataele on LGBTI rights
Commonwealth Equality Network member and chair of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network discusses LGBTI rights in the Commonwealth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJbU-Iw_j3M
VIDEO: universal human rights belong to everyone
British Development Minister Baroness Verma reflects on chairing the historic first LGBTI session at the Commonwealth People's Forum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihYfqOYb9uw
Video: Speaking Out LGBTI rights in the Commonwealth
Members of the Commonwealth Equality Network reflect on what resilience means to them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y3Hg9PRUUQ
Speaking Out 2015: The rights of LGBTI people across the Commonwealth
The Kaleidoscope Trust publishes its second Speaking Out report in advance of the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta. Speaking Out 2015 is a compilation of contributions from activists, human rights organisations and researchers which intends...
Video: Employment issues for LGBTI individuals
Joey Jolene Mataele, Chair of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network and member of TCEN, explains the employment issues for LGBTI individuals. https://vimeo.com/143389459
Report: Civil Society and the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative report, “Civil Society and the Commonwealth: Reaching for Partnership, investigates the gap between civil society and the Institutions of the Commonwealth. The report warns that the Commonwealth risks lapsing into...
Article: The Commonwealth of Nations and its Values – Bound to Disappoint?
What is needed is a respected Commonwealth citizen of strength, experience and manifest integrity and judgment, with only one term in office, to restore the reputation of the Commonwealth of Nations as a values based organisation. If this is not done, the...
Collaboration and Consensus: Building a Constructive Commonwealth Approach to LGBT Rights
This report brings together the first phase of research carried out by the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Kaleidoscope Trust which maps LGBT rights in the Commonwealth as well as views expressed by a broad range of Commonwealth diplomats in an ongoing series...
Highlights from the 2015 LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference
LGBTI Human Rights in the Commonwealth conference was held on Nelson Mandela Day, 18 July 2014 in the Sir Charles Wilson Building at the University of Glasgow. The event was organised by the Equality Network, Glasgow Human Rights...
International statements and declarations condemning criminalisation of homosexuality
This briefing note summarises a wide range of high-level statements anddeclarations from international and regional bodies condemning criminalisation ofhomosexuality. These statements complement and punctuate the findings by courts and tribunals around the world of...
LIVING A LIFE OF CRIME: The ongoing criminalisation of homosexuality within the Commonwealth
This article by Dr Paula Gerber examines the modern Commonwealth of Nations, including an analysis of the Charter which governs it, and the laws in many of the Commonwealth countries that still criminalise consensual same-sex sexual conduct. This is followed by an...
Speaking Out – LGBTI rights in the Commonwealth
Published by the Kaleidoscope Trust, Speaking Out reports on the rights violations faced by LGBTI people in the Commonwealth. Compiled in conjunction with the biggest ever coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex organisations from across...
Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change
Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth: Struggles for Decriminalisation and Change challenges these developments as the first book to focus on experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) and all...
This Alien Legacy: The Origins of “Sodomy” Laws in British Colonialism
Human Rights Watch's groundbreaking report looking at the colonial origin of many of the anti-LGBT laws in Commonwealth countries. Link: Read report