Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code, which dates from the time of colonial British Ceylon, criminalizes sexual acts deemed "against the order of nature." Under the applicable legal framework, individuals found in violation of these specific provisions may be subject to a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, in addition to facing substantial monetary penalties as determined by the court. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled favourably for decriminalization and has agreed that any imposition of penalties are incompatible with the current times, but does not have the authority to invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions. A bill aimed at decriminalization was submitted to parliament in August 2022; however, no action has been taken regarding the topic since. Although Article 365 is officially described as dormant, police still receive complaints citing it. These complaints are often used to justify harassment or moral policing, especially against LGBTQ individuals in public or private settings. Advocacy groups report that police routinely ignore complaints from LGBTQ victims, especially when the incident involves sexual violence or blackmail. The presence of Article 365 is cited as a reason for this neglect.
Transgender people can legally change gender following medical approval and surgical intervention is not required. In 2016 the Government of Sri Lanka launched Gender Recognition Certificates and provided clear guidelines to medical workers on how to positively deal with the transgender community. Both major parties from across the political spectrum have generally expressed support for transsexuality.
Since 2022, there are some legal protections based on sexual orientation. The government has stated that discrimination based on sexuality and gender is implicitly banned under the existing constitution, and it has proposed to provide anti-discrimination laws as part of a wider constitutional overhaul currently under negotiation.
Background
Sri Lanka did not have any legal restrictions for the general population against homosexuality until the colonial period. It had no legal influence from Zoroastrianism, Islam or Christianity, and most religious influence prior to colonialism came from Mainland India and East Asia.
The current legal framework of Sri Lanka mostly derives from European-Christian constructs as they stood during the colonial era, which were imported into the island. It is predominantly British law with some earlier colonial Roman-Dutch law. The most prominent of the discriminatory laws is the now seemingly dormant (sometimes reported as "decriminalised") under Section 365, that criminalizes homosexual sex. Further problems with the colonial legal framework include the lack of protections and supports for the sexual minority community, including the lack of specific wording fighting discrimination against sexual minorities nor the recognition of transgender and third gender concepts (who have been discriminated against through the Vagrants Ordinance). The Supreme Court and the various governments of Sri Lanka have countered this situation by including sexual minorities within generic anti-discrimination clauses and attempting to set dormant a variety of laws, although the colonial legal code does not provide the Supreme Court with the power to create or repeal law.
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka suspended (thereby overturning on appeal) a rare 2003 custodial sentence of a lower court, stating that the finding of guilt was correct due to the law remaining on the books, but that it would be inappropriate to impose a penalty on consensual sex. Human rights organizations and asylum seeker organizations have reported that police and government workers used the threat of arrest to assault, harass, and sexually and monetarily extort LGBTQIA individuals. However, several sources, including that by the IGLA president and Sri Lankan native Sherman de Rose, state that the laws are not used to jail and prosecute LGBTQIA individuals.
Dharmic moral codes
Sri Lankan Buddhism generally tolerated homosexual sex more than heterosexual sex, though preferred celibacy to even procreation unlike in western philosophical traditions. The Pali Canon explicitly mentions that sexual practices are generally forbidden in the monastic code (for monks), but sex of a homosexual nature would receive a lesser punishment to the point that certain types of homosexual sex would only require a confession and no punishment. This code was written on the island of Lanka in 29 B.C. and only limited to monks but not the general population. The ancient Chinese translations of the Āgama also does not challenge this. The lay man is only asked to avoid sex with certain classes of people (underage, married, monks, etc.).優婆塞經 (Upāsaka Sutra from Madhyam āgama):復次，舍梨子！白衣聖弟子離邪婬、斷邪婬，彼或有父所護，或母所護，或父母所護，或兄弟所護，或姉妹所護，或婦父母所護，或親親所護，或同姓所護，或為他婦女，有鞭罰恐怖，及有名雇債至華鬘親，不犯如是女。彼於邪淫淨除其心，白衣聖弟子善護行，此第三法* There are four factors of the third precept (kamesu micchacara)
agamaniya vatthu — that which should not be visited (the 20 groups of women). asmim sevana-cittam — the intention to have intercourse with anyone included in the above-mentioned groups. sevanap-payogo — the effort at sexual intercourse. maggena maggappatipatti — sexual contact through that adhivasanam effort.
This is further supported by the omission of homosexuality in the list of sexual misconducts compiled in the 14th century Upāsakajanalankara, which was written in Sri Lanka in the 14th century and became influential again in the 17th century Kandyan kingdom.
Political and community attitudes Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum have expressed support for legal recognition of homosexuality and transsexuality, including the leaders of the two major parties.
Sri Lankan society generally has a tolerant view of homosexuality. There are even some traditions that promote transgender people, although the third gender seems to have disappeared from the island, despite having roots in Sri Lankan culture. As a result, these laws have been loosely enforced (if at all), and discrimination by police and others is often associated with corruption or attitudes towards sexual promiscuity, which also applies to heterosexuals. Some issues, including the status of sexual minorities within the military service, and intersex rights, have largely escaped both mainstream discussion and discussion by LGBTQ lobbies. Other laws that can negatively affect sexual minorities are more widely discussed in the Sexual minorities in Sri Lanka article.
In 1994, Sherman de Rose set up Companions on a Journey (CoJ), the first LGBTQ support group in Sri Lanka. The Women's Support Group split off from CoJ in 1999, forming a separate organisation for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. Equal Ground was then set up as an LGBTQIA group.
The influential Buddhist chapter, Asgiriya Chapter, came out in support of extending rights to LGBTQ individuals, including support to amend the constitution.
In March 2021, in order to commemorate Zero Discrimination Day, the President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa tweeted, "As the president of #lka I am determined to secure everybody's right to live life with dignity regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, physical appearance, and beliefs." The Financial Times opined that this was the first public acknowledgement by the South Asian Head of State about everyone's right not to be discriminated on the basis of their sexuality or gender.
In August 2021, after a video of a homophobic counsellor caused controversy on the internet, the College of Psychiatrists clarified that modern medicine does not consider homosexuality to be an illness and further called for homosexuality to be decriminalized; unlike psychiatrists, counsellors are not regulated and do not require degrees.
In 2023, a report reveals the majority of 69% of population opposed same-sex unions' legalization, with a 60% strongly opposed it.
A poll by The Social Scientists Association in 2021 found that "72.5% of respondents believed that LGBT people should not be punished for their sexual identity, 65% said a LGBT person can do a job as well as any other person and 51.4% said they would support legislation to ensure the rights of LGBT people".
A survey by Equality Fund in 2018 found that 12% of Sri Lankan respondents were LGBTQI.
Political parties In Sri Lanka, parties from across the political spectrum have voiced support for LGBTQ rights.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party/Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
In 2014, Sri Lanka’s Attorney General, appointed by president Mahinda Rajapaksa, declared that LGBTQ Sri Lankans are protected implicitly under the Constitution and that discrimination against them was unconstitutional. President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the island's first modern transgender governor Niluka Ekanayake in 2016. In 2021, president Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed his support for LGBTQ rights in a tweet. SLPP MP Premnath C. Dolawaththa submitted a bill to decriminalise gay sex in 2022, which is currently being discussed in parliament. SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said that he was confident that there would be no opposition from the party's MPs to the decriminalisation of gay sex.
United National Party
UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera was an openly gay politician who served as the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the years from 2005 to 2019. President Ranil Wickremesinghe supported the bill to decriminialise gay sex. Additionally, President Ranil Wickremesinghe submitted two more bills to parliament in relation to LGBTQ rights: the Women's Empowerment Bill and the Gender Equality Bill.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya
SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said that “as a policy, our party believes that the LGBTQ+ community must be looked after.”
National People's Power
In 2024, the NPP wrote in its manifesto that it will support LGBTQ rights and has stated that it will support the bill to decriminalise homosexuality.
Tamil National Alliance
TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran said that the party rarely discusses issues that are not related to the ethnic issues of Sri Lanka, but that he himself would support the decriminalisation of gay sex.
Legality of same-sex sexual acts Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code, which dates back to 1885 (while it was British Ceylon), criminalizes sexual acts deemed "against the order of nature". For much of the law's history, the prohibition applied to only to males; in 1995, Article 365 was amended to replace the word "males" with "persons" so that same-sex sexual activity between consenting adult females was also outlawed in addition to that between consenting adult males.
Ordinance to Provide a General Penal Code for Ceylon 1883
Sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code refer to unnatural offences and acts of gross indecency. In 1995, the section was amended slightly to expressly prohibit "gross indecency" no matter the gender of the participants.
Section 365 Section 365 (Penal Code 1883) states:
Section 365A Section 365A (Penal Code 1883) states:
Section 399 This section is often used against transgender people for purported "gender impersonation". It has been used in situations where a person has converted to another gender yet bears a different gender on their documentation. The section provides: "a person is said to 'cheat by personation' if he cheats by pretending to be some other person, or by knowingly substituting one person for another, or representing that he or any other person is a person other than he or such other person really is."
Supreme Court