Women Gather Support For Fight To Legalise Lesbianism
South China Morning Post,
August 17, 1999
Hong Kong
Email: jfenby@scmp.com
By Susannah Price
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA —A group that announced it was holding the
country’s first national convention for lesbians, even though homosexuality is
illegal, said it had been overwhelmed by the positive reaction.
The group, which is part of the island’s main gay support organisation, called
Companions on a Journey, said it had originally expected about 80 participants but many
more had put their names forward.
"We want society to understand that lesbians exist in all walks of life, in all
races, religions and social levels," said one of the convention’s organisers,
identified simply as Kumari.
"We are now expecting more than 200 women to take part."
The group hoped the National Lesbian Conference, planned for December, would help build
alliances with international groups as well as boost the campaign to achieve the
decriminalisation of homosexuality in Sri Lanka.
Lesbianism was only outlawed in 1995 when Constitutional Affairs Minister Professor G.
L. Peiris came to Parliament to try to undo existing legislation - more than one hundred
years old - that made homosexuality illegal.
However certain members of parliament then pointed out women were not included in the
original law and instead of softening legislation, MPs voted to also outlaw female
homosexuality. It is punishable by up to 12 years in prison, although there are few
prosecutions.
The local press has been extremely supportive of the gay movement and given widespread
publicity to the planned lesbian convention.
"We are really a very tolerant society," said Philip Coorey, chief editor of
the Weekend Express newspaper.
"We have been flooded with calls from here and abroad asking for more details
about the lesbians. We have not really found any discrimination here."
An editorial in the state-run Observer newspaper said that until colonisation by
Europe, homosexuality was considered so natural it was never a matter of controversy.
"The challenge is to recognise our own Sri Lankan sexual natures . . . to
normalise our island society in a way that it will become socially inclusive," said
the editorial.
Women involved in the support group said that there were many high profile intellectual
and academic women in the movement who did not suffer from overt discrimination.
However, they said that those from the poorer communities found it very difficult
because they were isolated.
Two women in southern Sri Lanka recently committed suicide because they said society
would not allow them to openly express their love for each other.
The director and founder of Companions on a Journey, Sherman De Rose, has said he is
confident homosexuality will be decriminalised in the near future.
"The law may not be put into practice but it helps legitimise anti-gay prejudice
and forces many homosexuals to live their lives secretly," he said. "It can also
lead to blackmail.
"We have been lobbying politicians and religious leaders about repealing this part
of the penal code. Government sources say that with a general election due within the next
year, it is unlikely the ruling Peoples Alliance will put forward any measures that are
likely to upset the clergy or more conservative sections of the population."
However, Companions on a Journey and its sister group say they will not give up the
fight for legal recognition for gays.
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