Queen Elizabeth To Sign Commonwealth Charter In Support Of Gay Rights

Queen Elizabeth II is expected on Monday to sign a Commonwealth Charter backing gay rights and gender equality.

According to the UK's the Daily Mail, the Queen will sign the charter during a live television broadcast.

The charter declares: “We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds.”

The “other grounds” of the charter, dubbed a “21^st Century Commonwealth Magna Carta,” is intended to refer to sexual orientation.

“The impact of this statement on gay and women's rights should not be underestimated,” an unnamed diplomatic source said. “Nothing this progressive has ever been approved by the United Nations. And it is most unusual for the Queen to request to sign documents in public, never mind call the cameras in.”

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, the UK's largest LGBT rights advocate, called the action “historic.”

“This is the first time that the Queen has publicly acknowledged the importance of the six percent of her subjects who are gay. Some of the worst persecution of gay people in the world takes place in Commonwealth countries as a result of the British Empire,” he said.

In 41 of the Commonwealth's 54 nations gay sex remains illegal.

MP David Davies, a Conservative lawmaker from Monmouth, criticized the move, saying he worried that the “politically correct brigade will use it to silence legitimate debate about issues like gay marriage.”

Bryan Fisher of the Christian conservative American Family Association (AFA) tweeted: “Queen to sign bill tomorrow authorizing active and aggressive discrimination against Christians.”