LGBTQ Rights In Sri Lanka
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LGBTQ Rights In Sri Lanka
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". The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled favourably for decriminalization and has agreed that any imposition of penalties are incompatible with the current times, but does not have the authority to invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions even if they are incompatible with a higher morality. A bill aimed at decriminalization was submitted to parliament in August 2022 has been given the support of the ruling government. Furthermore both major parties from across the political spectrum have generally expressed support for the recognition of same-sex relationships. 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 positiv ...
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Sherman De Rose
Sherman de Rose is a Sri Lankan LGBT activist. He grew up in Kotahena. As a young person, he wanted to join the Catholic church and studied in Ireland, but he left the church after realizing he was gay. Then, he set up Companions on a Journey, Sri Lanka's first gay rights group, in 1994. Early life Sherman de Rose grew up in Kotahena, a suburb of Colombo with six siblings. He was connected to the local Catholic St. Lucia's Cathedral and wanted to become a priest. At the age of 17, he went to the Poornawatte Seminary near Kandy and after a few months had the opportunity to study in Ireland. Between 1989 and 1992 he studied theology and philosophy. Career Sherman de Rose set up Companions on a Journey in 1995, provoking a controversy since it was Sri Lanka's first gay rights group. He received death threats and was forced to go abroad for a time until things had settled down again. De Rose helped to set up ACCESS (AIDS Coalition for Care, Education and Support Services), beco ...
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Mangala Samaraweera
Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera (, ; 21 April 1956 – 24 August 2021) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the first openly gay politician in Sri Lanka. He served as Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2019, and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, for two terms from 2005 to 2007 and 2015 to 2017. He created a stir in Sri Lankan politics when he was sacked as a minister by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2007, after which he split from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to form his own wing (Mahajana wing), which later merged with the United National Party in 2010. Samaraweera served as a politician for over 30 years in his career until his retirement from politics in 2020. During his tenure as a politician, he was an advocate of liberalism and radical centrism and opposed militarisation, as well as ethnic and religious polarisation. He also advocated for LGBTQ rights in Sri Lanka, despite same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage being illegal in Sri Lanka. Early life and education ...
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Sagara Kariyawasam
Sagara Kariyawasam (born 13 November 1967) is a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician, and Member of Parliament (MP). Kariyawasam was born on 13 November 1967. He is the son of Albert Kariyawasum, who was a renowned politician from Southern province. He is the general-secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna political party. Following the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, he was appointed to the Parliament of Sri Lanka as a National List MP representing the Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance The Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance (Abbreviation, abbreviated SLPFA; ; ) was a political alliance led by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna formed in 2019. Initially, the alliance consisted of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Sri Lan .... References 1967 births Living people Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sinhalese people Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance politicians Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna politician ...
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Premnath C
Premnath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath (21 November 1926 – 3 November 1992) was an Indian actor and director, who was best known for his works in Hindi films. Nath made his debut with the film ''Ajit'' (1948), and went on to appear in over 100 films throughout his career. He was nominated for three Filmfare Awards, and later retired in 1985. Personal life Early life He was born in 1926 in the Karimpura locality near Ghanta Ghar in Peshawar. His father Kartarnath Malhotra was a high-ranking police officer and the maternal uncle of Prithviraj Kapoor, known as the patriarch of the Kapoor film clan. His family moved to Jubbulpore (present-day Jabalpur) after partition and he moved to Bombay where he was discovered as an actor. Relationships and family He fell in love with actress Bina Rai during the filming of '' Aurat''. They married and formed a production company together called P.N. films. Their children are actor Prem Krishen and Kailash Nath (Monty). Premnath ...
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Niluka Ekanayake
Niluka Ekanayake (; ) is a Sri Lankan politician and astrologer. She was appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena from 17 March 2016 to 11 April 2018 as the 10th Governor of Central Province. She was also appointed as the 9th Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province, from 12 April 2018 to 31 December 2018. In January 2019 she was appointed as the Chairman of the State Timber Corporation (STC). She is the first LGBTQ+ person and the first transgender woman to hold the office of Governor in a Sri Lankan Province, and is considered to be the first openly transgender head of a government in the world. See also * List of openly LGBT heads of government Politicians openly identifying themselves as members of the LGBTQ community have served as national leaders in nine sovereign states. Of those countries, two have had an openly LGBTQ head of state, who serves as the country's public persona. Sev ... * List of transgender political office-holders References Gover ...
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Governor Of Central Province
The governor of the Central Province, Sri Lanka ( ''Madhyama palāth āndukāravarayā''), is the head of the provincial government and exercises executive power over subjects devolved to the Central Provincial Council. The governor is appointed by the president of Sri Lanka The president of Sri Lanka ( ''Śrī Laṅkā Janādhipati''; ''Ilaṇkai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president is the chief executive of the union governm ... for a period of five years. The current governor is Prof. Sarath Abeykoon. Governors References * External links Central Provincial Council {{Central Province, Sri Lanka topics Central ...
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Transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes persons whose gender identity matches their assigned sex. Often, transgender people desire medical assistance to Gender transition, medically transition from one sex to another; those who do may identify as transsexual.. "The term ''transsexual'' was introduced by Cauldwell (1949) and popularized by Harry Benjamin (1966) [...]. The term ''transgender'' was coined by John Oliven (1965) and popularized by various transgender people who pioneered the concept and practice of transgenderism. It is sometimes said that Virginia Prince (1976) popularized the term, but history shows that many transgender people advocated the use of this term much more than Prince." Referencing .. "The use of terminology by transsexual individuals to self-identify varies ...
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Maithripala Sirisena
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (; ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He entered as a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa back in 2020 and ended his tenure in 2024. Sirisena joined mainstream politics in 1989 as a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and has held several ministries since 1994. He was the general-secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was Minister of Health (Sri Lanka), Minister of Health until November 2014 when he announced his candidacy in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015 presidential election as the opposition coalition's "common candidate", thus leading to him running against party leader and incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa. His victory in the e ...
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Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka), Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance (Sri Lanka), Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. Rajapaksa is a lawyer by profession and was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970 Ceylonese parliamentary election, 1970. He served as the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party from 2005 to 2015. Rajapaksa was sworn in for his first six-year term as president on 19 November 2005. He was subsequently 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, re-elected in 2010 for a second term. Rajapaksa was defeated in his bid for a third term in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015 presidential election by Maithripala Sirisena, and he lef ...
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Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, (; ; born 20 June 1949) was a Sri Lankan politician and military officer who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his Resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resignation on 14 July 2022 amid a historic economic and political collapse. Before his presidency, he was Secretary to the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Urban Development (Sri Lanka), Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 during the regime of his brother, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, playing a central role in the final phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Born to a Rajapaksa family, political family from the Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Southern Province, Rajapaksa was educated at Ananda College, Ananda College, Colombo and joined the Ceylon Army in April 1971. Following basic training at the Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa, he was commissioned as Sri Lanka Signals Corps, signals officer and later transferred to several ...
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Asgiri Maha Viharaya
Asgiri Maha Viharaya (also called Asgiriya temple, Asgiriya Gedige) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Asgiriya chapter of Siyam Nikaya, one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodianship of sacred tooth relic of Buddha kept in Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy. The chief incumbent of the Asgiri Maha Viharaya is the Mahanayaka thero of Asgiri chapter of Siyam nikaya, a leading Buddhist monastic fraternity in Sri Lanka. The present chief incumbent of Asgiri Maha Viharaya is Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero. Asgiri Maha Vihara traces its origin from the Wanavasi sect of the Dimbulagala forest monastery of Polonnaruva. Currently, 565 Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka function under Asgiri Viharaya of Kandy. History Asgiri Maha Viharaya was founded by Commander Siriwardhana on the instructions of Parakramabahu IV of Kurunegala (1305-1335 A.D.). Situated north of the Kandy Lake, this temple is believed to be considerably older than ...
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