Travel rrponnts Stefan and Sebastien traveled to Sri Lanka December 2014. Sri Lanka is a tropil island natn shaped like a pearl the Indian Ocean jt off the Indian maland. Stefan and Sebastien are origally om London and France, rpectively and Nomadic Boys is their gay travel blog. Funny Boy is a Sri Lankan book Stefan grew up wh and loved (wrten by Shyam Selvadurai and highly remend to any LGBT traveller visg Sri Lanka). It tells the story of a young Ta gay boy lled Arjy growg up 1980s Sri Lanka durg the civil war era, stgglg to e to grips wh his homosexualy a very relig and tradnal fay and society. But g here some 30 years later late 2014, we wonred if much has changed. Gays Sri Lanka are pretty much regard as crimals, like gays India or gays the Maldiv. The dranian laws om the Brish lonial era (sectns 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Co 1886) crimalizg gay sex (“rnal terurse”) wh up to 10 years prison and a fe are still place . Unfortunately 1995 the Sri Lankan judiciary threw gay Sri Lanka backwards by amendg this law to crimalize acts of "gross cency" wh a fe and up to 2 years prison (sectn 365A). There is no guidance as to what exactly “gross cency” is or isn’t, which leav open to abe by the police to victimize the LGBT muny. Dpe attempts by the UN and var Sri Lankan LGBT prott groups to qutn and repeal the laws, the ernment has not historilly been the most obligg: The recent former Print Rajapaksa, stated gay marriage would the Buddhist herage of the natn. He also opposed Norway's ambassador to Sri Lanka (Grete Lochen) brgg her wife to Sri Lanka, argug that lbian marriag are not legal Sri Lanka, so allowg *them* would enurage Sri Lankan women to want to behave this manner! Grete Lochen, Norway's ambassador to Sri Lanka wh former Print Mahda Rajapaksa - is that a fake se....??!! The recent surprise rult the Sri Lankan electns removed Rajapaksa om power and saw Mahripala Sirisena elected. Whilst this brgs an end to the homophobic ernment of Rajapaksa, remas to be seen if Sirisena’s will be any more welg to the hidn gay Sri Lanka muny than his precsor was. As foreigners Sri Lanka, we had a lovely time, pletely trouble ee and found the lols to be very iendly, kd-hearted people. But as we found the Maldiv, as foreigners, we will always enjoy a different level of treatment, whether straight or gay. Prcs Seby mpg up Nuwara Eliya, hill untry of Sri Lanka So, what's actually like livg there? We met a Shale thor Colombo, Kaluu, who has published var books and poetry, some wh a LGBT theme. He has asked to rema anonymo for fear of reprisal om fay and his work, so we will refer to him jt as - "Kaluu" ( means black Shale, his nickname bee he has darker sk than your average Sri Lankan). Ayubowan Kaluu, wele to our blog! Please troduce yourself: Good afternoon Nomadic Boys. I am Sri Lankan born, 34 years old, livg Colombo. I’m also a son, a iend, a gay, a Buddhist, a wrer, and a poet. Above all, a human. Two Ta boys beg very docile wh each other on the b Nuwara Eliya You’ve asked to keep your name anonymo on our blog, why is this? Sri Lankans do not posss posive attus towards homosexualy. Exposg my sexual inty uld affect my job, embarrass my fay and uld even be life threateng. My iends have faced such bter experience for beg “out”, particularly ral areas. For example, one iend was beaten by his olr brother when he me out to him until he bled. He ran away and now liv alone. Another iend me out to his fay and his father had a heart attack when he found out. He cid to marry and live a “good” heterosexual life to please his parents and cut off all ntact wh his gay iends, cludg me. CONTINUED, AFTER THE JUMP...
Contents:
- EXPLORE OUR FAVOURE 10 PLAC GAY SRI LANKA
- SRI LANKA MAY CRIMALISE HOMOSEXUALY — BEG GAY IS A CRIME THE UNTRI
- ADVICE FOR A 40SOMETHG GAY UPLE - SRI LANKA FOM
- TRAVEL DIARY: A SRI LANKAN TALKS ABOUT GAY LIFE THE ASIAN REPUBLIC
- NO! BEG GAY IS NOT ILLEGAL SRI LANKA. LAW IS BEG MISTERPRETED: TALK WH ARHA WICKRAMASGHE
- GAY SRI LANKA
- SRI LANKA GAY GUI
- TOP GAY DTATNS: SRI LANKA
EXPLORE OUR FAVOURE 10 PLAC GAY SRI LANKA
Activists Sri Lanka have been mpaigng for years to change law untry where beg gay is still punishable by a prison sentence and a fe. * being gay in sri lanka *
Among Sri Lankan society, rather more progrsive views prosper and lols are discreetly acceptg of same-sex lookg for Sri Lanka gay rmatn, is advised to be discreet and acknowledge that most lol gays are still closeted. A popular first stop on the gay Sri Lanka travel erary, Negombo offers the chance to grow acctomed to the eic energy of the natn amidst stunng astle and lonial-era archecture. Dpe natnal laws mutg explic LGBT culture, gay Negonmo do offer a few unofficial gay hotels, such as the male-only Gomez Place and gay-iendly “adult-only” Dickman and Bnacle hotel rorts.
homeworld NewsSri Lanka may crimalise homosexualy — beg gay is a crime the untriIndia only crimalised homosexual relatnships 2018, when the Supreme Court stck down Sectn 377 of the Indian Penal Lanka’s new Print Ranil Wickramasghe has stated that the ernment will not oppose a motn to crimalise homosexualy.
SRI LANKA MAY CRIMALISE HOMOSEXUALY — BEG GAY IS A CRIME THE UNTRI
Disver our favoure plac gay Sri Lanka today, cludg Colombo, Galle, Mirissa, Tangalle, Yala Natnal Park, Ella, and Kandy. * being gay in sri lanka *
MP Premnath Dolawatte’s Bill propos to strike down the two sectns, crimalisg nsensual sex between two adults of the same the police did not actively enforce the law, is ed by many to harass, threaten and extort money om those belongg to sexual Lanka is far om beg the only untry that still crimalis homosexual relatnships between two nsentg adults. The SPARTACUS Gay Travel Inx 2021 found that Yemen, Iran, Somalia and Sdi Arabia wh the Chechnya Republic, a regn wh Rsia, were the worst regns for the LGBTQ no untry Europe or North Ameri crimalis homosexualy, there is a long road for many untri to traverse when to stoppg discrimatn agast LGBTQ members. Countri like Azerbaijan, Rsia, Turkey, Poland, Armenia and Belas, particular, have the worst livg ndns for the LGBTQ muny, acrdg to the latt ILGA Europe's Rabow only crimalised homosexual relatnships 2018, when the Supreme Court stck down Sectn 377 of the Indian Penal is the list of untri where homosexualy is a crime: Afghanistan Banglash Bnei Indonia Iran Iraq Kuwa Lebanon Malaysia Maldiv Myanmar Oman Pakistan Palte Qatar Sdi Arabia Sgapore Sri Lanka Syria Turkmenistan Uned Arab Emirat Uzbekistan Yemen Algeria Bundi Cameroon Chad Comoros Egypt Errea Eswati Ethpia Ghana Guea Kenya Liberia Libya Malawi Mrania Mri Moroc Namibia Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia South Sudan Sudan Tanzania The Gambia Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Barbados Domi Grenada Guyana Jamai Sat Kts And Nevis Sat Lucia Sat Vcent And The Grenad Cook Islands Kiribati Papua New Guea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu(Eded by: Shoma Bhattacharjee)First Published: Sept 12, 2022 9:06 PM IST.
ADVICE FOR A 40SOMETHG GAY UPLE - SRI LANKA FOM
* being gay in sri lanka *
It tells the story of a young Ta gay boy lled Arjy growg up 1980s Sri Lanka durg the civil war era, stgglg to e to grips wh his homosexualy a very relig and tradnal fay and society.
TRAVEL DIARY: A SRI LANKAN TALKS ABOUT GAY LIFE THE ASIAN REPUBLIC
Explore Negombo, Sri Lanka, wh Holiday Hoeboys, your gay iendly tour gui who looks after your safety & welfare at all tim * being gay in sri lanka *
The dranian laws om the Brish lonial era (sectns 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Co 1886) crimalizg gay sex (“rnal terurse”) wh up to 10 years prison and a fe are still place. Unfortunately 1995 the Sri Lankan judiciary threw gay Sri Lanka backwards by amendg this law to crimalize acts of "gross cency" wh a fe and up to 2 years prison (sectn 365A). Whilst this brgs an end to the homophobic ernment of Rajapaksa, remas to be seen if Sirisena's will be any more welg to the hidn gay Sri Lanka muny than his precsor was.
Colombo don't have gay plac as such, but the growth of ter age Sri Lanka has allowed the LGBT muny to nnect easier wh each other via s like Lanka Love and Gayromeo and more recently, Grdr. Many of my gay iends have married women to relieve them om fay prsure, but dog so they create more problems rultg divorce, fleeg the untry and more extreme s, suicis. Dpe the polics, I mt clearly state that the majory relign Sri Lanka (Buddhism) holds no negative attus towards homosexualy, spe some of our polil lears tryg to e our religns as a means to jtify a homophobic culture.
NO! BEG GAY IS NOT ILLEGAL SRI LANKA. LAW IS BEG MISTERPRETED: TALK WH ARHA WICKRAMASGHE
Beg Fearful and Boldly Gay Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is thankfully no longer a war torn culture. Durg and after the nflict the untry has offered * being gay in sri lanka *
But the laws are also very vague and the historic terpretatns of what they mean have led to persecutn of LGBT people and a practil crimalisatn of beg gay or lbian Sri Lanka.
GAY SRI LANKA
Planng your gay holidays Sri Lanka? Disver the gay life of Sri Lanka and the bt gay hotels and gay-iendly rorts loted close to popular gay plac! * being gay in sri lanka *
What is disappotg is that, spe the number of progrsive judgments across the world which have unniably held that nsensual gay sex is not unnatural or grossly cent and therefore, not crimal, Sri Lankan urts are yet to exercise their powers of terpretatn to dismiss such s or to liver a siar pronouncement when our police cis to prosecute nsentg adults for their private relatns. Many have e forward willg to file a fundamental rights applitn support of gay people for ee as they are troubled by the ongog persecutn of LGBT people by Sri Lanka’s police. We mt also unrstand, that unlike straight people, gay people are nied the right by society and law to have legimate relatnships and for those relatnships to be regnised.
SRI LANKA GAY GUI
Lately, the Director of the Natnal STD/AIDS Control Program ced statistics suggtg that the prevalence of HIV among men of age 19 – 25 is at a rise, and among them are mostly ‘gay men’.
However, we need to unrstand why gay men are at high risk and stead of blamg gay men, we need to pot our fgers at Government and stutns which ntue to crimalise and monise gay people. In a untry where gay people are effect treated like crimals and are margalised by society, how n we expect them to e forward to receive the required rmatn to protect themselv and give them the nfince to seek medil re whout judgment or persecutn? His life is proscribed by the law, which outlaws homosexualy Sri Lanka, and proscribed by his fay’s expectatn to obediently follow tradn–take a wife and produce children.
Dpe the fact that both India and Sri Lanka men hold hands or walk arm arm and affectnately touch each other–as women do wh women–any overt sign of homosexual behavr is sternly nmned. There is a booklet lled ‘The Yogyakarta Prcipl’ (about human and LGBT rights translated to Shala and Ta); also a booklet tled ‘Stgglg Agast Homophobic Vlence and Hate Crim’ (a report on the documentatn and rearch nducted by EQUAL GROUND om April 2010-June 2011 on vlence agast lbian and bi women the ral areas).
TOP GAY DTATNS: SRI LANKA
Homosexualy⚢✖ Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)Censorship✔ No censorshipChangg Genr✖ Legal, but requir surgeryNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedDiscrimatn✖ No protectnsEmployment Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyHog Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyDonatg Blood✖ Banned (fe ferral)Conversn Therapy✖ Not banned.
Public OpnAcrdg to recent survey data available, societal ristance to LGBTQ+ rights Sri Lanka is Lanka Surveys of Sri Lankans said LGBT persons face discrimatn by the police bee they are LGBT said LGBT persons face discrimatn fdg rental hog and/or school bee they are LGBT said LGBT persons face vlence and abe on social media bee they are LGBT of Sri Lankans said LGBT go agast their relign of Sri Lankans said would be shameful to have a LGBT child of Sri Lankans said rentg their hoe to a LGBT person would be a problem of Sri Lankans would support legislatn to ensure the rights of LGBT people of Sri Lankans say they personally know someone who is transgenr know someone who is lbian or gayHistoryHomosexual activy Sri Lanka? 3 In the untry guidance se LH and IP (gay men: risk) Sri Lanka CG [2015] UKUT 00073 (IAC), promulgated on 18 Febary 2015 (heard on 6–8 Augt 2014) the Upper Tribunal found that, although all LGBTI persons form a PSG, wh regard specifilly to those who are a civil partnership or married, that they ‘…do not nsir that dividuals whose civil partner stat or stat as married homosexuals is not reflected their legal stat their untry of orig form a separate particular social group’ (para 25). Official figur on the prosecutns of gay men and those the LGBTI muny generally Sri Lanka have not been specifilly reported on sce 2018, but has been claimed that between October 2019 and October 2020 6 gay men were prosecuted (see Implementatn and enforcement of the law).