LGBTQI+ community welcomes Bill to decriminalise same-sex sexual activity

We welcome the Private Member’s Bill by Premnath Dolawatte MP introduced today, August 24, 2022, to decriminalise same sex sexual activity between consenting adults by amending sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code. However, we note that the Bill comes amid a number of disturbing developments that directly impact LGBTQI+ Sri Lankans:

*The Government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe is engaged in a systematic campaign to arrest and detain protesters involved in the Aragalaya protests. This has been carried out the Emergency Regulations and, most alarmingly, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). This crackdown seemingly aims to intimidate and silence Sri Lankans who have been voicing dissent against the Government, including LGBTQI+ Sri Lankans. They now face arbitrary questioning, arrest and detention by law enforcement authorities, including authorities wholly untrained in criminal procedure, putting LGBTQI+ people in a particularly vulnerable situation. As a result, a number of LGBTQI+ Sri Lankans are in hiding and in legitimate fear for their safety.

*The Government is also attempting to put a “progressive” spin on its repression by directly using the LGBTQI+ community. It has thus far removed sections 365 and 365A from the Emergency Regulations, through the amended Regulations No. 2291/43 of August 5, 2022. The Government presented this as evidence of its liberal credentials to Sri Lankans and the international community. Yet, the very same amended Regulations introduced host of new Penal Code offences subject to stronger search, arrest and detention powers.

These developments raise the genuine concern that this Private Member’s Bill has been introduced right now simply to further whitewash the Government’s repression. To allay these concerns, we urge both Hon. Dolawatte and the Government to pass this Bill urgently within the minimum possible time period under Parliamentary procedure.

If this does not happen, we can only conclude that both Hon. Dolawatte and the Government have no sincere commitment to the LGBTQI+ community and are only interested in using it to sustain a frightening campaign of repression which we both strongly condemn and whose targets we stand in complete solidarity with.

Members of the LGBTQI+ community of Sri Lanka and allies