Gay activist Peter Tatchell and his fellow campaigners have met with Commonwealth officials to press for more action on LGBT rights.

The Commonwealth, whose titular head is Queen Elizabeth, has 54 member states but 43 of them criminalize homosexuality – that’s a majority of the 79 countries worldwide where it is illegal to have gay sex.

Veteran human rights activist Tatchell and five others from his foundation met with the Commonwealth’s Karen McKenzie, acting head of human rights, and David Banks, public affairs adviser to the Secretary General at their headquarters in Marlborough House, London.

They discussed how the Commonwealth can best advance lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) human rights – and work with other organisations to achieve this.

Tatchell said: ‘While some progress is being made, it is painfully slow. More reform is needed urgently.

‘The recently intensified state-sanctioned homophobic repression in Zambia, Uganda, Cameroon, Nigeria and The Gambia is a worrying trend.’

Tatchell believes the best chance of success is for countries to use the non-discrimination clauses of their own constitutions and human rights conventions they have already signed to inspire change.

‘That’s why it is so import to empower and support indigenous LGBTI and human rights defenders,’ he said.

They also made some specific suggestions.

Tatchell explained: ‘To help break down homophobic prejudice and ignorance, we proposed that Marlborough House sponsors a series of seminars on LGBTI issues for Commonwealth High Commissioners and journalists from Commonwealth countries, with the participation of LGBTI campaigners from member states where homophobic and transphobic repression are rife.

‘If government representatives and local media can be made better aware of LGBTI issues it can help build understanding and lessen repression. In countries like Uganda, more objective and sympathetic media reporting is crucial for the diminution of anti-LGBT prejudice, discrimination and violence.

‘We were advised that the Commonwealth Secretariat is working with national human rights institutions in member states and has a youth training program on non-discrimination that includes the rights of women and LGBTI people. It is also working with Commonwealth parliamentarians, law officials and civil society groups.

‘The aim of these Commonwealth initiatives is to build capacity and advocacy in Commonwealth countries, so people there can raise these issues from within.

Many organizations are gearing up for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in November and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 to try to highlight human rights concerns, including for gay, trans and intersex people.

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma has repeatedly said homophobic persecution is inconsistent with Commonwealth values and international law.