ARE WE LIVING IN MODERN TIMES, OR THE STONE AGE?

Age old hostility to LGBTQ rights has re-surfaced

Anyone who thought that the Aragalaya had buried the old humbuggery for good alongside the ousted old guard has been proven wrong. A disparate group of bedfellows, ranging from the clergy to conspiracy theorists and self-seeking politicians, came together last week to oppose two progressive measures proposed by the government. The first was an innocuous LGBTQthemed tourism promotion campaign. The other was a Bill to ban corporal punishment in schools. Special mention should go to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith who has recently shifted his holy gaze into the bedrooms of the people. He has recently been busy blowing the dog whistle against the LGBTQ community, accusing ‘foreign-backed initiatives promoting gay rights’ and certain politicians and political parties of supporting acts, which he believes ‘are incompatible with our values.

Predictably enough, Maha Nayakas jumped the bandwagon and, in a letter to the President, opposed the LGBTQ themed tourism campaign and the new bill to ban corporal punishment. The high priests, who remained non-committal throughout the gravity-defining peaceful revolution, have found a cause worthy enough to claw back into political relevance.

The usual culprits have also joined the prey. Namal Rajapaksa took a dip in the cesspool. Udaya Gammanpila, also facing legal action, joined the party. The members of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the main opposition that is devoid of imagination to offer a genuine opposition to a sub-par government, also opposed the bill to ban corporal punishment in schools.

The proposed amendment to the Penal Code criminalises physical and psychological punishment of children and neglect at home, in schools and in detention centres. The amendment aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), article 19 of which protects children from all forms of violence.

In May of last year, during the Wickremesinghe presidency, the Cabinet approved an amendment to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, prohibiting corporal punishment. The new NPP government tabled the amendment in Parliament after it was approved by the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection.

The Teachers Union has expressed concerns about the lack of clarity in certain provisions. Such concerns should be addressed through consultation, though none should provide a pretext to defend violence and degrading treatment against a child. Such instances of abuse and ill treatment of the children in schools are generally rare. However, the proposed amendment to the Penal Code would serve as a potent antidote against any future violence.

However, the most visceral opposition to the two proposals stems not from reasonable concerns but from a deeper wellspring of age-old, regressive dogmas that have shackled this country to the past. Even in the modern religious ethos, the clerical opposition to gay rights is regressive. Pope Francis granted formal approval for Catholic priests to bless same sex couples on the condition that such blessings would not legitimise a civil union, but be a sign that God welcomes all. The Church of England last week named the first ever female Archbishop of Canterbury in 1400 years. The opposition to these progressive measures generally came from less salubrious corners of the world. 

Trapped in an arcane law

Sri Lanka is still trapped in an arcane colonial era law -- sections 365 and 365 A of the Penal Code, that criminalise ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ and ‘acts of gross indecency’ which have been used against the gay and lesbian communities. Much of the civilised world has moved on, including our neighbour India, decriminalising homosexuality. However, Sri Lanka, which had many gay members in the highest echelons of power, had never made a genuine effort to repeal Sections 365 and 365A, and its leaders have opted to live a lie.  

Sri Lankans of all walks of life who toppled the old order were not bigots, puritans or homophobes. They rejected the old order with all its villainous invocations. This government, which came to power on the shoulders of those men and women, has a moral imperative to establish a new social compact that guarantees the fundamental rights of all citizens, regardless of their race, religion, economic status, gender, or sexual orientation.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s election manifesto promised many progressive social reforms, such as child rights and women’s empowerment (which, however, will be a non-starter as long as only one in three women of working age contributes to the labour force and officials beat around the bush, short of addressing the elephant in the room). He also pledged to repeal Sections 365 and 365A, which have historically been used to criminalise same sex activities.

Cowed by bigotry

Now, with a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the government has a momentous opportunity to live up to its promises and make its mark. These reforms, innocuous in many respects, do not need to be put on hold until the framing of a new constitution; instead, they should be introduced with a sense of urgency. The government should not cower before  homophobia and bigotry. It should call them out. Alas, the government has abandoned the tourism campaign in the face of opposition by the clergy. 

A government,  true to its conviction,  would rather view the rabble rousing opposition to these progressive measures as a death rattle of the old order. It should establish a clear separation between the temple and the state. No modern state can function coherently when the two encroach on each other. 

LGBTQ rights are now a cause held dearly by the progressive quarters of the world. This government’squasi-economic autarky and the shackles of Marxist Leninism may not necessarily endear it to many liberal forces. However, repealing the arcane and discriminatory penal code sections would help burnish its progressive credentials. At a time when the fault lines between liberal enlightenment and puritanical darkness are emerging across the world, at least some people would take notice and help rebrand Sri Lanka in its true glory, which it deserves.

Follow @RangaJayasuriya on X