Supreme Court gives green light to legalising homosexuality: ‘The door is finally open’

Sri Lanka looks to be making moves towards decriminalising homosexuality, following a “historic development” by the Supreme Court.At the moment, people found guilty of homosexuality in the South Asian country can face imprisonment, under a law dating back to British rule of what was then Ceylon. However, the Sri Lankan parliament has spoken about being open to making a change since at least 2022.

On Tuesday (9 May), the Supreme Court ruled that a private members bill, from MP Premnath C Dolawatte, to decriminalise homosexuality, was not unconstitutional. Before coming to its decision, the court heard dozens of petitions arguing both sides.

However, the next steps forward are not clear because no government or opposition politicians have said if they will support the bill, meaning activists have to continue lobbying to get it pushed through parliament.

Either way, Kaveesha Coswatte, from justice organisation iProbono, which supported many of the petitions backing the bill, told the media that the Supreme Court decision was a historic development, creating “hope towards real change” and that the “door [was] finally open”.

In September, president Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government would not oppose Dolawatte’s bill, which was initially submitted the month before.Much the same was said by Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs minister Ali Sabry, in February.

“The government will support its position of decriminalising same-sex relationships. We are, however, not legalising same-sex marriages. But, we would decriminalise it. I think that there is a lot of consensus for that, so let that come to parliament,” Sabry said.

Steps towards decriminalisation are taking place in other countries too.

Singapore’s colonial-era ban on gay sex, under section 377A of the penal code, was repealed in November, effectively making it legal to be homosexual in the city-state. However, lawmakers refused to legalise same-sex marriage.

In the Caribbean, decriminalisation rules were stuck down by court rulings in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, and St Kitts and Nevis during 2022. All of those laws were also linked to British rule.