A bill to amend the Penal Code with the aim of protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ communities in Sri Lanka was handed over to President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (Aug 24) by Attorney-at-Law MP Premanath C. Dolawatta.

This bill to amend the Penal Code was submitted to the Parliament yesterday (Aug 23) by MP Dolawatta as a Private Member’s Bill. 

The society of Sri Lanka has an extremely backward notion regarding the LGBTQ + community and as a result, not only in daily life, but even in government and law enforcement agencies, this community has been subjected to various forms of violence, oppression and harassment, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a press release.

At times, even their democratic basic rights have been violated, the PMD added.

“Punishment of individuals based on sexual orientation and sexual identification was spread throughout the world by colonial legal systems in the Victorian era. But in modern psychiatry, this is not considered a crime or a perversion. Also, developed countries have worked to amend the laws that penalize this community and limit their rights,” the statement read further.

Having taken these factors into consideration, MP Dolawatte submitted this Private Member’s Bill.