Sri Lanka president says government will not oppose decriminalization bill
washingtonblade.comThe president of Sri Lanka on Sunday said his government will not oppose a bill that would decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations in the country.
The Colombo Gazette, a Sri Lankan newspaper, reported Ranil Wickremesinghe made the comment during a meeting with U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power.
Sri Lanka, a former British colony, is among the countries in which homosexuality remains criminalized. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in March ruled the criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual activity in Sri Lanka violated the rights of Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, executive director of Equal Ground, a Sri Lankan LGBTQ and intersex rights group.
Parliamentarian Premnath Dolawatte last month introduced a bill that would amend Sri Lanka’s Penal Code to decriminalize homosexuality.
