Aug 24, Colombo: A bill to amend the Penal Code with the aim of protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ communities in Sri Lanka was handed over to President Ranil Wickramasinghe today (24) by Member of Parliament and Attorney-at-law Premnath C. Dolawatte.

Penal Code (Amendment) (19th Act) bill to amend the Penal Code was submitted to the Parliament yesterday (23) by Premnath C Dolawatte as a private member’s proposal.

The society of this country has an extremely backward idea regarding the LGBTQ + community and because of this, not only in daily life activities but even in government and law enforcement agencies, this community has been subjected to various forms of violence, oppression and harassment, the President’s Media Division said in a statement.

Also, in some cases even the basic rights of this community confirmed by the constitution have been violated.

Punishment of individuals based on sexual orientation and sexual identification was spread throughout the world by colonial legal systems in the Victorian era. But in modern psychiatry, this is not considered a crime or a perversion.

Also, developed countries have worked to amend the laws and regulations that penalize this community and limit their rights.

Taking all this into consideration, this private member’s proposal has been forwarded by MP Premnath C Dolawatte.