Sri Lanka currently has no plans or ongoing discussions to legalise or review same-sex marriages, according to Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.
This, despite the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) communiqué to the ministry about the issue in May last year and the growing public debate on the matter.
Responding to the inquiries on whether the Government was considering any changes to the legal status of same-sex marriages, Nanayakkara said yesterday (3): “No planning, discussions, or anything to legalise same-sex marriages are going on.”
In May last year, the HRCSL urged the Ministry of Justice and National Integration to take immediate steps to repeal Sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code, which criminalise sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex.
In a letter addressed to Minister Nanayakkara, following previous communications dated 22 November 2023 and 13 August 2024, the HRCSL has reiterated concerns about the continued criminalisation under these outdated provisions.
The HRCSL has highlighted that Sections 365 and 365A, related to “unnatural offences” and “acts of gross indecency between persons,” “have been used for criminalising sexual activity between persons of the same sex”.
The commission welcomed the recent enactment of the Women Empowerment Act No.37 of 2024, noting that it “protects women from all forms of discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation”. Specifically, Section 2(d) of the act recognises “a person’s right to non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation” within Sri Lanka’s legal framework.
Lawyer and iProbono Equality Law Director Aritha Wickramasinghe said: “Marriage is a legal agreement whereas a relationship or sexual conduct is behavioural. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, these concerns are sometimes confused with one another, and even intermingled with transgender issues, which are entirely different.”
Wickramasinghe said that the more immediate legal issue was the decriminalisation of consensual same-sex conduct. He noted that Sections 365 and 365A operated generally, criminalising sexual activities that were ‘against the order of nature,’ regardless of sexual orientation or gender.
“Both homosexual and heterosexual individuals have been prosecuted under these laws. These provisions are a direct intrusion to people’s private lives, violating their right to privacy and personal freedom,” he elaborated.
He further stated that Section 365A had been used to criminalise behaviours such as holding hands, hugging, or kissing, even in private settings, under the ambiguous concept of ‘gross indecency,’ and characterised the laws as colonial-era laws that were originally meant for social control and continue to significantly and unfairly target LGBTQIA+ people.
“For the majority of homosexuals, marriage is not even a priority. All they want is to live in peace, free of harassment and criminalisation,” he said.