Sri Lanka has authoritarian conditions for sexual minorities. The majority of legalities surrounding homosexuality descend from colonial laws primarily introduced during the imperial rule of the British Raj.This article focuses on the humanitarian issues concerning people who identify as LGBTQIA or women. Chinese socialized news outlet Xinhua reported that "homosexuality is also a taboo subject in Sri Lanka where socially it is unaccepted and most often seen as an offence, [and] most homosexuals are found to be in school and university hostels".

Colonialism and Article 365A

Article 365A prohibits anyone, irrespective of gender, from engaging in "gross indecency", which is not explicitly defined, although stiffer sanctions apply if one person is under the age of 16 or if any sort of injury was caused as a result. In 1995, the criminal law was amended to expressly prohibit "gross indecency" no matter the gender of the participants. ^[8]

Sexual Violence

There is widespread understanding that sexual misconduct takes place commonly throughout society, and evidence suggests that sexual abuse of boys is common in the context of sex tourism, schools, care homes, religious establishments and other similar settings in Sri Lanka, and that male-on-male sexual violence outside such settings is also not uncommon. ^[9]

The current laws surrounding rape only extend to females and underage children (pedophilia), but often even these issues are not thoroughly or seriously taken care of by police and other people in authority. NGOs have suggested that laws relating to rape and other forms of sexual violence should provide legal protection tce ^[9].

Though Article 365A prohibits anyone from having homosexual sex, there has been no reported cases of it being successful used against anyone, though many complaints about blackmail and bullying stemming from the law are still found. ^[10]

Third Gender

The concept of Third Gender is not new to India and has been part of Sri Lankan culture since time immoral. The recent restrictions on the freedoms of third gender peoples are derived from colonialism. Tamil Nadu, which shares extremely close ties with Tamils in the north of Sri Lanka, has provided a wide variety of benefits to Third Gender, including providing them Reservation Status and supporting them to dismantle external discriminatory blocks holding them back.The rest of India also recently followed suit by pubically recognizing the existence of Third Gender people.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka recently "emphasized Transgenders’ right to identity, non discrimination and dignity. HRCSL also expressed concerns on Legal and procedural issues relating to Transgender’s Legal Documentation issues such as Birth certificate, National Identity card and passport." And transsexual persons are able to have these legal documents free from information relevant to their gender histories. ^[11]

Sri Lanka had its first openly gay politician since it was colonized by the Europeans, Niluka Ekanayake, which was chosen as the Governor of the Central Province in March 2016.“The Governor has to work with Buddhist monks in the central province and also has to participate in religious ceremonies at the ‘Temple of the Tooth Relic’" ^[12]

Anti-Discrimination Laws

Sri Lanka has legislated that homosexuals would be covered under anti-discrimination laws since the mid-2010s. It has yet to be documented to see how effective is in reality. ^[13] An important distinction to point out is that females, homosexual and transgender people are allowed to serve in the military. ^[14] But bullying at schools and workplaces remain common, with LGBT often facing tougher conditions than non-LGBT peoples. ^[15]

A government commission human rights report stated that the following points should be implemented as law: ^[16]

(1) the right to non-discrimination and to be free from violence or harassment

(2) the right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

(3) The right to a fair trial

(4) The right to privacy

(5) The right to free expression and free association

(6) The right to work

(7) The right to social security, assistance and benefits

(8) The right to physical and mental health

(9) The right to education.

Reservation Status

While Sri Lanka has not classed any sexual minority as a backwards group, Tamil Nadu has classified Third Gender people as a most backwards social group and the Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Department is to consider a 3% quota for transgender people in education and employment. ^[17] It was the first locality in India to provide welfare benefits for transsexuals ^[18].

Sri Lanka has extensive socialized public services that indirectly support the community of sexual minorities, but this is often considered to be inadiquete due to a lack of understanding about homosexuality among healthcare professionals, and sex affirmation surgery is not [financially] covered under the public or private hospital system. ^[19] A major generic concerns that adversely affects sexual minorities is the lack of laws protecting privacy, and lack of awareness about STDs. ^[20]

Transgenders are allowed to study at single-gender schools for the gender they identify as, but they routinely face bullying, and education concerning them is non-existent. ^[21]

Family Values

Sri Lankan culture, whether Tamil or Sinhalese, does not generally engage in forced marriages. And while arranged marriages are common, the children always have the right to reject the choices made by their parents, even if this leads to disappointment among the wider family community. It is however currently very common for children to be pressured into marrying with a person of an opposite sex, regardless of their sexuality. ^[22]

The status of women is relatively high in Sri Lanka,especially in comparison to other South Asian nations. There has never been the practice of child marriage or the burning of widows in Sri Lanka. ^[22] Sri Lanka was also the only nation in South Asia to vote in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage, though the meaning of marriage is is viewed differently among South Asian LGBT, and Sri Lanka still does not recognize same-sex marriage. ^[23]

Buddhism and Hinduism

The context of Buddhism's support for homosexuality should be taken into consideration that the philosophy was an attempt to reform an existing pro-gay culture (commonly called Hinduism). The philosophy does not make any negative references to homosexuality albeit looks down on generic sex as "animistic". The Buddhism in Sri Lanka would have probably created a culture similar to modern-day Thailand if it were not for colonialism. ^[24]

Hinduism, the culture that the Buddha was trying to reform, was far more celebratory of homosexuality. Antique scholars have written several sacred texts accounting for homosexuality among deities, journals about homosexuals may have different medical problems to heterosexuals, guides on astrological issues for homosexuals, and even guides on how to have good homosexual sex. There still exists many artworks and sacred monuments relating to homosexuals throughout religious sites. ^[25]

Many Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka vocally remain opposed to the legalization of homosexuality. The appointment of a transgender politician as the Governor of the Central Province was met with negative opposition from the Maha Sanga, however Buddha accepted both homosexuals and asexuals into the Sangha, and it is not considered to be different than heterosexualiy. ^[26]

This however stands in contrast to allegations by Sri Lanka anthropologist H. L.Seneviratne, who writes of the “rampancy of homosexual abuse of the young in monasteries”, alleging that this is “generally taken for granted, with no notice of it being taken by either the monks or the laity”. ^[27] There have also been several cases where the Buddhist community has provided protection and shelter from negative authoritarian forces, such as the case of a 17-year-old transgender who fled to a temple to seek shelter from police under the control of the former President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa. ^[28]

There has been a notable difference between eastern culture and western cultures view on "religion" (albeit there remains much controversy about whether Hinduism and Buddhism are really religions), with many Sri Lankans finding solace and enlightenment within religious establishments and temples, seeking to rebuilt Sri Lanka from the negative effects of colonialism. ^[29]

There have been few gay-positive media productions aimed at the Sri Lankan community, albeit the Tamil community on the island has often received material from Tamil Nadu. A couple of notable movie productions include Flying with One Wing (2002 – Asoka Handagama) ^[30] and Frangipani ^[31] , and the works of Mr Selvadurai, who immigrated from Sri Lanka to Canada, writing extensively about homosexuality in his novels ^[32].

Politicians

Sri Lanka prides itself in having an elected the first female prime minister in the world, Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960. And while there are no openly serving homosexual or lesbian lawmakers, it has elected a transsexual as the Governor of the Central Province ^[33], and many prominent lawmakers are suspected of being closeted; a leak of a US cable by WikiLeaks claimed that Mangala Saraweera of the right-wing governing party was "openly homosexual". ^[34]

Notable Reactions

Dr. Jayatissa, a far-left Marxist Nationalist:"I am totally against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) rights. This is not the need of the human being. We need a future generation."

Sri Lanka's Justice Minister, GL Peiris, who initially showed a liberal approach to the homosexual issue, later backtracked - saying that the government had more pressing work [concerning the Civil War] than to repeal laws that were not being enforced. ^[35]

Dr. Shantha Hettiarachchi, Chief Medical Officer of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura: Homosexuality or being gay isn’t a disease but a difference in sexual orientation which makes one’s sexual preferences differ to that of the majority [...], we all can make certain choices that could help control such situations. ^[36]

References