Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is fairly conservative with regard to the rights of LGBTIQ people, although progress has been made in recent years. Same-sex sexual relations are still criminalized under Sri Lanka's Penal Code, but the government has said it would support a decriminalization bill. The Penal Code, in addition to Sri Lanka’s vaguely worded Vagrancy Ordinances, provides legal coverage for police targeting, harassment, and extortion of LGBTIQ people. Public officials have stated that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is implicitly banned under the Sri Lankan Constitution, but LGBTIQ people still regularly experience discrimination. The National Human Rights Action Plan for 2017-2021 failed to explicitly protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Trans people are allowed to change their legal gender markers, but the process is often inaccessible, and there are no options for third-gender or non-binary legal markers. Public officials have mixed reactions to LGBTIQ issues. While some politicians disparage LGBTIQ identities as an illness or an “import from Western culture,” other politicians have begun to express tentative support for the human rights of LGBTIQ people.