Baroness Warsi to give LGBT rights lecture on World Human Rights Day

Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi is set to give a key note speech on LGBT rights as part of next week’s World Human Rights Day.

Baroness Warsi, who is the Senior Minister of State at the Foreign Office responsible for human rights, will speak and answer questions at the event hosted by BNP Paribas, who this autumn sponsored the PinkNews Awards.

The event will mark World Human Rights Day on 10 December and will be chaired by Dr Purna Sen.

Dr Sen, who is chair of the Kaleidoscope Trust and former head of human rights at the Commonwealth, said: “David Cameron has said he wants the UK to be ‘a global beacon for reform’ in support of LGBT rights. We look forward to hearing from Baroness Warsi how that commitment is being delivered in practice.”

The Kaleidoscope Trust is a UK based charity working to uphold the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people internationally.

In July, Baroness Wars refused to support the government’s same-sex marriage act for England and Wales at second reading in the House of Lords.

Baroness Warsi told the Mail: “I have a number of ongoing concerns which have been raised by faith communities and others.

“I am in discussion with colleagues about them. At this stage, I felt that I could not vote for the bill and so I abstained.”

However, Baroness Warsi suggested in January that she was inclined to support the legislation.

She told the Daily Politics: “Providing I can get the legal safeguards, which I have been speaking to (Culture Secretary) Maria Miller about, and providing the faith communities are on the right page, and all of that, I will be voting for gay marriage.”

In 2005, when she unsuccessfully stood as the MP for Dewsbury, Baroness Warsi issued leaflets which used homophobic language.

Her leaflets claimed children were being “propositioned” for gay relationships.

Baroness Warsi later said she regretted the incident.

BNP Paribas this autumn sponsored the PinkNews Awards.