LGBT Rights

By Saurav Jung Thapa. Efforts to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity in Sri Lanka, an island state off the southern coast of India, appear to be gaining steam as the country negotiates a preferential trade deal with the European Union (E.U.). Sri Lanka is one of 72 countries around the world that criminalize same-sex acts. […]

Recent decision of the government not to proceed with legal reform that decriminalizes homosexuality as both disappointing and a setback to a culture of protecting minority rights in general says the National Peace Council. “The presence of archaic laws does not reflect positively on either the Sri Lankan legislature or on the cultural enlightenment and […]

Image: Is Sirisena a lair? Health Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne, apparently contradicting what President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday that he threw away a cabinet paper aimed at legalising homosexuality in Sri Lanka, yesterday told Parliament that there was never such a move. “There was never a move to legalize homosexuality or prostitution,” the minister said responding to a […]

There was a time when we were too ashamed to admit that we voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa. Even though we believed in all he stood for and the path he wanted to create toward a new Sri Lanka when we did vote for him. Just over a month ago a General Physician, whom I had […]

Himal Kotelawala Gay rights is in the news again, what with the Cabinet notoriously rejecting a move to decriminalise homosexuality in the country. Social networking sites were abuzz with the news yesterday, with members of the public ‒ those with an online presence at least ‒ showing mixed reactions to the controversial yet unsurprising decision […]

Sri Lanka’s 1883 penal code, a legacy of its British colonial rulers, makes sex between men punishable by 12 years in jail, although the law is rarely enforced.(HT FIle Photo). Sri Lanka’s cabinet has rejected a proposal to end discrimination based on sexual orientation because it could legitimise homosexuality, which is illegal on the island, a […]

( Image from drama on sexual rights by Grass Rooted Trust, April 2016; ©s.deshapriya) Rights of people with different sexual orientations and gender identities became a much-debated topic in ethno-nationalist politics of Sri Lanka in recent years. Despite of the various evidence which suggests that homophobia is a colonial production, in today’s context in Sri […]

The Asgiriya Chapter highlighted that groups with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) communities should have the right to equality and should not be marginalized, discriminated, exploited and oppressed. Chief Secretary of the Asgiriya Chapter, Dr. Medagama Dhammananda said that such individuals […]

( The vote; image by rappler.com) The U.N. Human Rights Council  adopted a resolution against anti-LGBT violence and discrimination at just concluded its 32 session by majority vote. The resolution calls  for establishing a mandate on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Cube and Viet Nam  supported the resolution […]

US ambassador says move by Organization of Islamic Cooperation represents an ‘epidemic and severely damages the credibility of the UN’ Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, said the move was part of a larger trend ‘to block the participation of NGOs on spurious or hidden grounds’. A group of 51 Muslim states has […]

The Daily Mirror  interviewed well-renowned Sri Lankan Canadian writer Shyam Selvadurai regarding this concern. He was the first Sri Lankan writer to address issues concerning LGBT rights. The theme of sexual identity can be blatantly observed in his first novel, “Funny Boy” (1994), which won the ‘Books in Canada First Novel Award’ and the ‘Lambda […]

( Press Release) The European Union (EU) Delegation issues the following press release in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission, Ambassadors of Norway and Switzerland and High Commissioners of Canada and Australia in Colombo. DECLARATION BY INTERNATIONAL AMBASSADORS AND HIGH COMMISSIONERS ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA AND BIPHOBIA. Colombo, […]

Equal Ground is Sri Lanka’s organization seeking human and politial rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning community. The organization has successfully organized Pride events for over a decade, with this year marking the 12th Colombo PRIDE. Annual Colombo PRIDE celebrations are held each year to “bring together the LGBTIQ community in […]

The far-right Sinhala group, Sinhale, has threatened to attack Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) activists organising a pride event in Colombo next month. Threatening to take the law into their own hands to stop the event, Sinhale members accused foreign embassies of paying NGOs to “put this filth into the minds of our Sinhala […]

by Aritha Wickramasinghe. I was born in 1984 at St Michael’s Nursing Home in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Then a small, but bustling metropolis, Colombo had already experienced its first taste of societal division. In 1983, race riots largely targeting the Tamil minority population engulfed this once picture perfect paradise in flames — flames which would […]

In an unprecedented turn of events, Sri Lankan Police have launched a crackdown on suspected lesbians across the country says Asian Mirror. According to the news report a suspected lesbian couple had been arrested in Avissawella by Police recently, after a trishaw driver tipped off the Police station. The couple, according to media reports, were […]

Though new government offers some hope, say LGBT activists By Kaitlin Bardswich . Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, executive director of Equal Ground in Sri Lanka, says the LGBT-rights organization has come under state security surveillance. / Kaitlin Bardswich “I’m sorry I’m a lesbian,” a Sri Lankan woman says she told her mother, after her sister outed her. […]

The Human Rights Council resolution is a significant moment for global LGBTI movements, and for people around the world who have worked tirelessly for human rights for everyone. We intend to press the Council to keep these concerns atop its agenda and to ensure sustained attention and action. By Monica Tabengwa, (Geneva) – The UN […]

76 countries criminalize homosexuality- Progress at UN incremental- Activists should focus on violence aspect- Mounting research exposes harsh realities-  (IRIN) – In recent years, the world has seen enormous human rights gains with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. However, there have also been substantial setbacks – ranging from discriminatory legislation, to […]