Emeli Sande urges Commonwealth leaders to overturn anti-gay laws

Emeli Sande today urged Commonwealth leaders to “see people as human beings” and overturn anti-gay laws.

The 31-year-old singer, whose mother is from Cumbria and father from Zambia, has just returned from a 10-day trip to celebrate her grandmother’s 80th birthday in the southern African country.

Zambia inherited the legal system of Britain upon independence in 1964 and laws concerning homosexuality have largely remained unchanged since then.

Gay sex is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday said she “deeply regrets” discriminatory legislation established during the colonial era.

Sande told the Standard: “They need see people as human beings.

“I hope this will send a message that we are all equal, that we are all humans going through a human experience. I hope there is more freedom and equality for them as well in Zambia. I think it will improve the country in all kinds of ways.”

Sande’s parents met while they were both studying at Sunderland Polytechnic.

She spent a few months in Zambia as a child, before her parents moved back to the UK and settled in Scotland.

She said it was thanks to Commonwealth agreements that her parents met - but that the leaders should take this opportunity to change things that have been in place for “too long”.

Sande spoke out at Global Citizen Live in Brixton O2 last night where she was joined by rapper Professor Green and TV presenter Maya Jama.

During the concert celebrities backed calls for politicians to end global poverty while Commonwealth leaders pledged more than £250 million to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.