Justice Minister, end your homophobia

DURING his official visit to Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk welcomed proposed legislation to decriminalise same-sex relations.

- 

Although he may have erred on a technical detail—assuming the bill remains before Parliament even after its dissolution—his larger point was indisputably valid. The law in question, embedded in Sri Lanka’s Penal Code since 1884 under British colonial rule, is an archaic, unjust relic of a bygone era. It has no place in a modern, democratic society.

Sri Lanka’s legal stance on same-sex relations is not just outdated but is also centuries behind the arc of progress. While nations across the world have moved forward, and many in our own region, including India, have taken bold and affirming steps toward equality, Sri Lanka continues to criminalise consensual relationships between adults based on sexual orientation. In fact, in 2024, Thailand, home to the world’s largest Buddhist population, and the source of Sri Lanka’s Theravada orthodoxy, became the first Southeast Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage. That monumental shift only highlights how deeply regressive Sri Lanka’s position remains.