Being Fearful and Boldly Gay in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is thankfully no longer a war torn culture. During and after the conflict the country has offered modest convenience to lesbigay citizens thanks to the activism of a courageous few. To be sure many LGBT citizens live in closeted misery but more recently voices of
Between 1983 and 2009, Sri Lanka was wracked with a brutal civil war, causing most tourists to stay away. However, the country is now classified a “stable democracy”. Homosexuality is illegal in Sri Lanka. Punishment ranges from a fine to 10 years in prison–although it has been ruled unenforceable by the supreme court of the country. In certain situations, cross-dressing is tolerated. Since the 1990s their have been public efforts made to advance the rights of LGBT Sri Lankans, especially by the human rights organization EQUAL GROUND. Sri Lanka has implemented anti-discrimination laws for homosexuals as part of its constitutional human rights action plan. It has recognized transgender people for a very long time and has been making it easier for transgender people to identify and transition in recent years. Concepts similar to the third gender that are found in India and South East Asia also exist in Sri Lanka.
Name: Sri Lanka
Population: 18827000
Capital: Old, Colombo; new, Kotte-since 1982 - Pop. 140000
Area: 65610 sq. km/ sq. miles
Language: Sinhala, Tamil
Religion: Buddhist, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam
Status of Homosexuality: Illegal
Telephone Country Code: 94