At a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, British Prime Minister David Cameron said states receiving aid from the UK should "adhere to proper human rights". 41 of the 54 Commonwealth States, almost exclusively former British colonies, have laws banning homosexuality.
Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana all have recently passed or are debating legislation banning gay marriage. Sri Lanka is coming under scrutiny for violation of human rights during the Tamil Tiger civil war. All these Commonwealth countries receive aid from Great Britain. The Commonwealth of Nations is a intergovernmental organization made up of the former British Empire.
England has already withheld 19 million pounds from the government of Malawi for poor progress on human rights and free press.
A Ugandan journalist, Charles Odongpho, thinks that the threat, while well intentioned, is a bit off target. Corruption, poverty, violence, and starvation are all more important issues to the people of the countries that would be affected by the withdrawal of UK aid, and less aid would leave these countries in a worse position to fix the more serious problems of food scarcity and political corruption.
I agree with Mr. Odongpho; I think Cameron is getting ahead of himself. Ultimately the goal is to create equality between all individuals, but a far more pressing matter is ensuring those individuals have access to food, water, medicine, and education. Tolerance and respect of human rights at home seem to grow organically out of education and provision of basic needs.
By Bob Hartzer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15511081
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