Justin Trudeau appealed to French speaking nations to work on LGBT rights
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a stand for LGBT and women’s rights at la Francophonie, an international organisation of primarily French speaking countries.
Trudeau addressed issues including female genital mutilation and lack of safe access to abortion in a call for an end to discrimination.
“That’s enough. There is no excuse for such practices, for such violations of their fundamental rights,” Trudeau said.
He also addressed diversity issues faced by the LGBT community, who he said were suffering in too many countries, including country members of la Francophonie.
The group is made up of over 80 governments and states who speak French as a main language, some states with a poor equality record are members so Trudeau used the platform to address these governments directly.
“Because we’re all family here, let’s tell each other the truth. We owe them the same respect, the same rights and the same dignity as all other members of our society,” Trudeau said.
The Canadian PM has been a long standing ally for the LGBT community. He demonstrated his commitment to equality by naming a diverse, gender-balanced cabinet.
Last week he appointed Alberta MP Randy Boissonnault as his LGBTQ2 special advisor. The advisor was the first out gay MP in Alberta to be elected.
He is appointed as Canada repeals a federal law making it illegal for same-sex couples to have anal sex, or if more than two people “take part or are present” for sex.
He issued a far-reaching apology to those convicted of historic gay sex offences on behalf of all Canadians.
Trudeau has also said that Canada is considering gender-neutral national ID cards.
