(COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka’s Police Chief C. D. Wickramarathna on Tuesday ordered his rank and file against discriminating against the LGBTIQ community in the country following a writ petition in the Court of Appeal.
The matter was taken to court by a group of LGBTIQ representatives following reports on a recent police program held in the central hill capital of Kandy that put the community in poor light.
The Attorney General’s Department has informed the Court of Appeal that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has issued a circular preventing police officers from conducting training sessions, lectures or seminars which dehumanize and discriminate against the LGBTIQ community in the country.
A cross section of civil society activists had filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal challenging the ever-rising abuse, harassment and discrimination against individuals of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning (LGBTIQ) community, at the hands of the Police.
The court issued notices on the respondents, and thereafter, the State settled the case by agreeing to issue a circular by the IGP, addressed to all the senior police officers preventing them from organizing or carrying out any acts which are discriminatory towards the LGBTIQ community or their rights and also prohibiting them from violating the right to equality under article 12(1) of the Constitution, of the members of the LGBTIQ community.
The petitioners state that according to an island-wide survey conducted by the petitioners in 2020-2021, titled “Mapping LGBTIQ Identities in Sri Lanka”, 12 percent of the total population interviewed for the survey identified themselves as LGBTIQ, a projected total of 1,469,574 individuals, between the ages of 18-65 in Sri Lanka.
The petitioners state that it is now common knowledge that members of the LGBTIQ community face grievous prejudice in their daily lives, and, most concerningly, that they even find themselves in situations that pose a direct threat to their lives and wellbeing, at the hands of other individuals and public authorities.
It was only last month that the Government even encouraged the LGBTIQ community to form a trade union in a bid to foster and safeguard their rights in the work place.
In a related development the International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned transgender players born as men from playing international women’s cricket.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the governing body concluded that they had made the decision following a nine-month consultation process to protect the safety of female players.
