PM Trudeau visits Liberia and Madagascar on first official visit to Africa
OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau plans to discuss LGBTQ rights in a speech later this week at the summit of la Francophonie, where his audience will include countries that still discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or forbid homosexuality outright.
The prime minister will raise the subject during Saturday’s opening ceremony in Antananarivo, the capital city of the island nation of Madagascar, which is hosting this weekend’s summit of the International Organization of la Francophonie.
The global group of 80 governments and states from mainly French-speaking nations comprises many countries, including nearly a dozen in Africa, where sexual acts between same-sex couples are illegal.
In others, including the host country of Madagascar, homosexuality is frowned upon or otherwise not tolerated.