Queen To Sign New Charter Backing Gay Rights

Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | March 09, 2013 | Robert Watts

[Steelfish]

Queen To Sign New Charter Backing Gay Rights The Queen will sign a new Commonwealth charter opposing discrimination suffered by women, gay people and ethnic minorities.

By Robert Watts 09 Mar 2013 In a special ceremony to mark Commonwealth Day on Sunday, she will also give a speech endorsing the new agreement which states signatories oppose “all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds”.

The words “other grounds” are said to refer to sexuality however any specific references to gay people are not included to avoid antagonising Commonwealth countries that retain laws against homosexuals, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The charter is the first time the Commonwealth has had a single document setting out the "core values of the organisation and the aspiration of its members".

The document includes affirmations on democracy, human rights, international peace and security as well as freedom of expression. It also contains a commitment to "gender equality" and “women’s empowerment”.

The charter was agreed by all Commonwealth heads of government in December.

[RPTMS]

Well, technically she is head of the C. of E.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Thanks for posting that. You saved me the effort of trying to say the same things, and said it better.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Read naturalman1975’s posts above. He’s got it right.

[Yaelle]

I have learned so much from you over the years on the ways of England. Just want to say thanks. I owe your country my life.

[naturalman1975]

Actually, technically, she isn’t. The Head of the Church of England is officially, Jesus Christ (Henry VIII did style himself as Head, and so did his two immediate successors, but from the reign of Elizabeth I, this changed). The Queen is the Supreme Governor. But she does not set the policy of the Church. That is in the hands of the Archbishops and Bishops - in particular, the Lords Spiritual who are also part of the British government (they have seats in the House of Lords) - and the Synod.

All being the Supreme Governor really means is that the Archbishops and Bishops can’t assert their religious authority over her (ie, they can’t excommunicate her) in contrast to the way the Pope and occasionally other senior Catholic clergy used to do to Monarchs.

[FreedomStar3028]

You’ve had conversations with the Queen of England?

Who are you?

[dennisw]

The Queen is up in her 90s or so. I would think her trendy staff drafted this trendy proclamation for her. They were pro-active and The Queen just signed on to it. Which she should not have. It seems to me that Royal staff tilt gay anyway and always have everywhere. So they influenced her.

[Ann Archy]

OMG!! Not the Queen now!! Has EVERYONE lost their MORAL GROUD and COMMON SENSE????

[EternalVigilance]

The sun sets on the British Empire.

[moose07]

Longest Sunset in History.

Country	Date	Year of Independence	Notes
Afghanistan	08-19 !19 August	1919
Antigua and Barbuda	11-01 !1 November	1981
Australia	01-26 !26 January	1788
Bahamas	07-10 !10 July	1973
Bahrain	12-16 !16 December	1971	15th August, 1971
Barbados	11-30 !30 November	1966	Barbados Independence Act 1966
Belize	09-21 !21 September	1981	September Celebrations of Belize
Botswana	09-30 !30 September	1966
Brunei	01-01 !1 January	1984
Cyprus	10-01 !1 October	1960	16 August 1960, but Cyprus Independence Day is commonly celebrated on 1 October.[1]
Dominica	11-03 !3 November	1978
Fiji	10-10 !10 October	1970
The Gambia	02-18 !18 February	1965
Ghana	03-06 !6 March	1957
Grenada	02-07 !7 February	1974
Guyana	05-26 !26 May	1966
India	08-15 !15 August	1947
Ireland	04-24 !24 April (Easter Monday)	1922	Proclamation of the Irish Republic commencing the Easter Rising on 24 April 1916
Israel	05-14 !14 May	1948	5th of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar. Declaration of Independence
Jamaica	08-06 !6 August	1962
Jordan	05-25 !25 May	1946
Kenya	12-12 !12 December	1963
Kuwait	06-26 !25 February	1961
Lesotho	10-04 !4 October	1966
Malawi	07-06 !6 July	1964
Malaysia	08-31 !31 August	1957	Hari Merdeka
Maldives	07-26 !26 July	1965
Malta	09-21 !21 September	1964
Mauritius	03-12 !12 March	1968
Myanmar	01-04 !4 January	1948
New Zealand	04-18 !6 February	1840	Celebrated as Waitangi Day. Also see Independence of New Zealand
Nigeria	10-01 !1 October	1960
Pakistan	08-14 !14 August	1947	Yaum e Azadi. Independence from the United Kingdom on 27 Ramadan ul Mubarik, 14 August 1947
Saint Lucia	04-18 !22 February	1979
Saint Kitts and Nevis	09-19 !19 September	1983
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	04-18 !27 October	1979
Seychelles	06-29 !29 June	1976
Sierra Leone	04-27 !27 April	1961
Solomon Islands	07-07 !7 July	1978
South Africa	12-11 !11 December	1931	1931. Not a public holiday. Union of South Africa formed on 31 May 1910 and Republic of South Africa declared on 31 May 1961
Sri Lanka	02-04 !4 February	1948	February 4, 1948, Sri Lanka had their independence. Nearly 150 years of UK ruling the countries they finally had independence. At the time the country's name was British ceylon.
Sudan	01-01 !1 January	1956
Swaziland	09-06 !6 September	1968
Tanzania	12-09 !9 December	1961
Trinidad and Tobago	08-31 !31 August	1962
Tuvalu	04-18 !1 October	1978
Uganda	04-18 !9 October	1962
United Arab Emirates	12-02 !2 December	1971	National Day (United Arab Emirates)
United States	07-04 !4 July	1776	Fourth of July. Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776
Vanuatu	07-30 !30 July	1980	Independence from United Kingdom and France in 1980
Yemen	11-30 !30 November	1967	South Yemen 1967
Zambia	10-24 !24 October	1964
Zimbabwe	04-18 !18 April	1980

[naturalman1975]

Nobody particularly special, but I went to school with the Prince of Wales, and later wound up serving alongside the Duke of York in the Navy, and became friends with both of them. The Royals have normal lives as well as their official lives and they have friends who are just normal people. I certainly would not call the Queen a friend, but I have met her through her sons and I have had some conversations with her.

[naturalman1975]

No, her staff didn’t draft it for her. The government of the United Kingdom did, in consultation with the governments of the Commonwealth Realms, and if requested, it is part of her role to sign such a document if requested by her Prime Minister and to make such a speech if Her Majesty’s Government requests it. Unless it is unconstitutional, she does not have a choice.

That’s her role within the Constitutional Monarchy - to give the Royal Assent to the acts of Her Government except in the most exceptional circumstances of Constitutional violations. She is not an absolute Monarch with the power to overrule the wishes of the elected government of the United Kingdom, or any of the Commonwealth Realms. She has the right to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn, in private conversation with her Ministers (most generally with the Prime Minister) but she must act on his advice unless his advice or the actions of the government are outside the scope of constitutional law.

[EternalVigilance]

Can you give me a link to the text of this constitution to which you repeatedly refer?

[naturalman1975]

As I think you may be aware, the British Constitution is sometimes referred to as an an 'unwritten Constitution', but that isn't actually true. It's just not written down in one document, but in several major documents with a few parts of it scattered around judicial decisions and laws.

In terms of the issues I have been discussing here, the most important of these documents is the Bill of Rights of 1689, where Parliament required King William III and Queen Mary II to sign a declaration transferring most of the still extant powers of the monarchy to the day to day control of Parliament. You can find the text of that document here.

[momincombatboots]

I read an article where Islamists rape young boys and girls before incarcerating them. They wouldn’t want criminals to remain virgins ya know. Those Islamists? I keep hoping there is truly such a thing as moderate Islam, but I keep seeing all evidence to the contrary. They simply cannot exist in a democracy.

[scrabblehack]

The “other grounds” clause would seem to be particularly broad. It would seem that, theoretically, no one could be turned down for a job, rental, etc. for any reason.

[corlorde]

Next up will be the new Pope.

[BarnacleCenturion]

“Next up will be the new Pope.”

Don’t bet on it.

[CodeToad]

So when is th queen having Charles’ coming out party?

[corlorde]

"Don’t bet on it."

I said the very same thing about a host of issues about ten years ago. Although one thing doesn't necessarily mean another, we are in some very worrisome times.