Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Sri Lanka face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. 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". This has been ruled unenforceable by the Supreme Court, but the court does not have the power to remove laws outright. A private members' bill submitted to parliament in August 2022 has been given the support of the ruling government and is likely to be passed by parliament in 2023.
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.
There are no anti-discrimination laws, but 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
The current legal framework of Sri Lanka, mostly derives from European-Christian constructs as they stood during the colonial era, and 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 "decriminalized") 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 Vargrants 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.
Human rights organizations have reported that police and government workers used the threat of arrest to assault, harass, and sexually and monetarily extort LGBTQI individuals. Intimidation and harassment, including death threats, and physical and sexual assaults are directed at sexual minorities by both official and private actors. Cruel and degrading treatment, amounting to torture, emotional or psychological abuse, is perpetrated by means such as involuntary institutionalisation or during police investigations. For example, individuals may be forced to undergo anal or vaginal examinations as part of a police prosecution, or be detained in psychiatric facilities for involuntary "treatment".
Political and community attitudes
The political parties of Sri Lanka are formed through collations of numerous smaller parties reminiscent of the party politics in former colonial power Netherlands, and hence confusion and constant movement can be found in terms of their stances to homosexuality. Both the conservative government of Srisena and the socialist government of Rajapaska have stated that discrimination against sexual minorities is unconstitutional and that Section 365 cannot be legally applied to consensual homosexual sex, however the socialist coalition refused to allow the conservative government's attempted removal of Section 365 from legal texts. A number of non-governmental organizations, lawmakers and religious organizations have come out in favor of sexual minorities, and openly homosexual gay and transgender lawmakers can be found in the parliament and the government. A variety of public institutions including the health service and the police have introduced internal commitments to improve conditions for sexual minorities.