Homosexuality in Sri Lanka - Have Your Say

A recent edition of the Anderson Cooper 360^o on CNN featured a somewhat interesting yet controversial topic – that of turning back gay and lesbian people and whether such transformation of sexuality, be it religiously or biologically, is truly possible. Interestingly, the bulk of the program evolved around the religious perspective of the subject, by that it means Christianity, what the bible has to say on this matter and how different people including the lay as well as the clergy, interpreted the very words of the holy book. The conversation to me was another continuation of the whole ‘same sex marriage’ story that has been featuring predominantly in the western world, and that again mostly in the United States, for quite sometime now. The mere effect this had on the US Presidential election and how this became a deciding issue, simply provides the platform as to how this has evolved to be a highly discussed matter in the present day.

Being a Buddhist with only a little knowledge on Christianity and being a Sri Lankan who has not set foot on US yet, I’d prefer to limit this post to a Sri Lankan Buddhist context and start a fresh discussion on what the future impacts would be ‘when’ this issue hits Sri Lanka. I emphasize on ‘when’ since I feel it’s inevitable that this discussion will arrive on Sri Lankan national matters someday; may be not as quickly as one would hope given the Sri Lankan culture and the society, but someday it definitely will. As the conventional system of human society is changing on the lights of cultural and religious freedom, the issues that once deemed to be hidden and subsided as sacrilegious are blooming and Sri Lanka won’t be an exception to this rising.

When most of the western countries acknowledge the existence of a gay/lesbian community, e.g. US, even amidst significant objections from religious parties, Sri Lanka still keeps the issue under wrap and very little discussion has been initiated. Yet it is true that we observe homosexual people on an individual basis amongst the characters we confront everyday. However, be it due to the fact that still there is no need for any discussion since such homosexual rising has not taken place in Sri Lanka or be it due to the denial or ignorance of people on such a matter, the subject is yet to surface. On the contrary, the US community has been taking a different approach and we see (from what we get through media) that a lot of people are now openly declaring their abnormal (by which I mean ‘not-man-and-woman but otherwise) sexuality. We observe even famous celebrities, for e.g. Sir Elton John, declaring themselves as gays & lesbians and some of them even advocating for gay & lesbian rights on a large scale.

So, what does future has for Sri Lanka? At this point a discussion on accepting and legalizing same sex marriage in Sri Lanka would appeal to be highly imaginary and hypothetical. However, given that the topic will emerge someday on a broader level and that no one denies the existence of such a group of people scattered in the island, let’s start a thread on the realistic aspects of relevance and acceptance of this controversial issue in Sri Lanka and the potential matters that would arise in such time.

From a personal perspective I wish to say that, even though I respect a person’s right to be accepted in the society as a gay or a lesbian, the implications of a person’s open declaration of him/herself as homosexual would be contrastingly enormous to what we may observe in the western society. In a community where open discussion on sexuality is frowned upon at times, the topic ‘homosexuality’ will have to travel a long way to reach a position where it would be worthy of open discourse. This would arise largely due to the conventional and religious upbringing the rest of the community will accompany with them owing to the influence of Buddhism on a greater proportion. I must declare that I’ve never heard of any incident in the 2500 year old Buddhist history or even the recallable Sri Lankan history of Buddhism where the word ‘homosexuality’ would appear and this may well hold true to almost all the Sri Lankans. Though I’m not certain whether Lord Buddha has mentioned this fact anywhere in his teachings, I feel certain that with very little awareness among us on this matter we are far away from even agreeing to accept the homosexual community. (Interestingly, in the CNN program several participants of the program extracted certain citations from the bible where Jesus had mentioned certain matters on homosexuality. According to them, even these few lines were rather ‘implicitly’ included, once again stressing the matter as blasphemous. Since I’m unable to comment on the contents of the bible, I’ll leave it open to the Christian readers to follow up further)

So, here are the questions. Would homosexuality be a violation of the 3^rd precept of the five precepts taught to us in Buddhism? How would the conventional unit ‘family’ be affected with the introduction of two male parents or two female parents? Will such a family structure be accepted by the community at large in the first place? How would the children of a same sex couple (obviously adopted or brought up from a marriage before revealing oneself as homosexual) face the society and would the society accept them? Can we actually make them straight again or is it fair to even try that in the first place? (I strongly suggest reading the page linked above at the very beginning). Will the Sri Lankan community accept them as they are? How would the community respond to their demands for their rights and would the rest of the community support them? These are some of the questions that occurred to me while I acknowledge there would be plenty more for the readers.

On a personal note; I found it a little difficult to accept the whole concept of homosexuality in the beginning and even with a strong notion of equal human rights, democracy etc, I used to defy my beliefs when it came to gays and lesbians. With the Buddhist upbringing and the society I live in, the subject was too much to swallow. With time the issue became commonplace and I’ve started to accept that though it may sound awkward it’s a truth we have to accept and respect. But as with my case, there would be thousands who still refuse to accept and live with the issue as it is.

So have your say and know what others have to say about homosexuality in Sri Lanka. I will make an effort to grow this post as I encounter interesting comments from the readers and will publish them separately if needed. I welcome Sri Lankans living abroad to contribute on how the matters are dealt outside Sri Lanka and fill up the gap especially on the legislation pertaining to that country.

Anyway, warm regards for a prosperous, peaceful Sinhala and Hindu New Year for everyone out there….