Queen to sign equal rights charter

10 Mar 2013, 4:32 pm   -   Source: AAP

The Queen will sign the new Commonwealth Charter in an event on Monday which includes the core values that leaders have committed to upholding.

The Queen is set to sign a new charter backing equal rights for women and gay people after it received the support of every Commonwealth nation.

The monarch will sign the new Commonwealth Charter in an event which includes the core values - from human rights to the rule of law - that leaders have committed to upholding.

According to The Mail on Sunday, the document declares: "We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds."

Insiders said the decision to highlight the event is a "watershed" moment because it is the first time she has signalled her support for gay rights in her 61-year reign, the paper claimed.

The Queen is expected to sign the document at London's Marlborough House, the Pall Mall headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat on Monday, which is Commonwealth Day.

"At a Commonwealth event on Monday, the Queen will sign a charter agreed upon by the 54 members of the Commonwealth," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

"The Queen, as in all matters, is apolitical but is signing the document in her capacity as head of the Commonwealth."

However, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the Commonwealth charter appears not to include any specific commitment to equality for gay people.

"It is an important document but it does not include any explicit commitment to gay rights," Tatchell said.

"The Commonwealth Charter is a step forward for human rights in the member states but there's still much more to be done in terms of gay rights.

"Forty-one out of 54 Commonwealth states still criminalise homosexuality.

"I think the homophobic majority of the Commonwealth states vetoed protection against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

"There appears to be a clause in the charter to prohibit discrimination on 'other grounds' - this could be interpreted to cover homophobic discrimination but it will be down to the discretion of individual commonwealth countries."

The British government is introducing new legislation ending discrimination against women in the line of succession to the British throne.

The measure will mean that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first baby can succeed to the throne, regardless of whether the child is a girl or a boy.

Ministers are set to introduce the new law after receiving consent from all the Commonwealth realms to push ahead with the change.

The Succession to the Crown Bill will also end the ban on anyone in the line of succession marrying a Roman Catholic.

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