Lesbian
Activism in Sri Lanka
By the Women's Support Group
Perhaps the simplest way to say this is that we are women who
feel emotionally, spiritually and sexually closer to women. We
are teachers, doctors, lawyers, factory workers, cleaners, police
officers, armed forces personnel, movie stars, housewives, artists
- rich, poor, working class, middle class and upper class. We
are of all races and religions. We are mothers, aunties, sisters,
nieces and grandmothers. Some of us are old and some young, some
disabled, some not. Some of us are also in 'heterosexual' marriages.
Though often hidden, we are women from all walks of life, but
most of all we are all daughters.
The Women's Support Group (WSG) of Companions on a Journey (COJ)
was founded in June 1999, with the intention of providing peer
support to lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women, who
face a variety of problems at family, social and work levels.
It is an autonomous body within COJ, with its own drop in center.
The WSG has made tremendous progress in developing a community
of support where none before had existed; advocating for the rights
of women with alternate sexualities, under extreme conditions;
networking with women's and human rights groups and building group
capacity. The objectives of the group are primarily to win legal
recognition and social acceptance for the equal rights of lesbians,
gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) persons, including those
living with HIV/AIDS, in order to foster a social climate of tolerance
and acceptance for these communities, thereby foregrounding the
human rights and humanist values of freedom and dignity for all.
The WSG has attempted to achieve these aims at the national level,
by creating awareness at the grass root levels of LBT women's
issues and to extend support to women in provinces and rural areas,
faced with problems related to these issues.
The group has carried this agenda to the international circuit,
in forming alliances with well established LGBT organizations,
as well as human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission, and the International Lesbian and Gay Association.
For the first time in the brief history of the struggle in Sri
Lanka for the recognition of LGBT rights, two activists from Sri
Lanka have secured positions on the executive board of the International
Lesbian and Gay Association.
Over the past two years, the WSG's national level involvements
have included advocacy work on behalf of women with lesbian or
transgender identities. In separate cases in 1999 and 2001, the
group extended legal and financial aid to two women who were facing
legal charges for 'impersonation' and 'fraud'. Their 'crime' was
that they had adopted male identities in order to live with, and
love, other women. It is significant that no charges were filed
against one of the women, although she had been held in remand
for over six months. The WSG's legal aid committee facilitated
the release of both women, and provided for financial support,
housing, employment, and counseling services to one of them, and
financial support only to the other.
The WSG has also been active in promoting awareness on basic
women's human rights, particularly in the area of women's reproductive
and sexual health. In July 2000, the group sponsored three workshops
on sexual health and HIV/AIDS awareness for women factory workers
in the Central Province. The group plans to resume this work during
the course of the year.
The human rights forum on violence against women is a significant
focus of the WSG's activism. To mark International Women's Day
2002, the WSG launched the 'clothesline' project, which is a visual
public protest on violence against women. Survivors of violence
of any kind, including battery, rape, assault, emotional and psychological
blackmail from families, discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation, incest and childhood abuse were encouraged to share
their stories with hundreds of other women, many of whom are in
similar situations, through the clothesline project.
The stigma associated with being lesbian or gay in Sri Lanka can
sometimes spill over into physical, emotional, mental, and sexual
violence against individuals. In July 1999, a press conference
held by the WSG to announce their intention of holding a lesbian
conference in Colombo at the end of the year resulted in a controversy
in the press. A particularly virulent letter to the Editor of
The Island newspaper advocated the rape of women attending the
proposed lesbian conference by convicted rapists. The WSG received
support from numerous quarters within Sri Lanka, as well as from
international organizations, like IGLHRC, The Japan Lesbian and
Gay Association, Amnesty International and the Asian Human Rights
Commission coming to the defense of the WSG. A complaint was filed
against The Island newspaper. In June 2000, the Press Council
issued its judgment in this case, condemning lesbianism as sadistic
and salacious. This furor forced the WSG temporarily underground;
but the group survived this initial setback, and continued its
work with renewed commitment.
The criminal legal status of the LGBT communities in Sri Lanka
also contributes to the violence and discrimination faced by them
on a daily basis. This overshadows their personal and public lives,
and is a constant barrier to their enjoyment of full human rights.
In 1995, the Amendment to Section 365A of the Sri Lanka Penal
Code only served to broaden the provisions for prosecuting homosexuality,
by including both sexes. The WSG continues to work at upholding
the rights of LBT persons and lobbying tirelessly to repeal the
Penal Code system that criminalizes homosexuality in Sri Lanka,
by networking with other human rights organizations and women's
rights organizations, and creating awareness on the 'normality'
of homosexuality.
The WSG continues to represent the Sri Lanka LBT community at
the international level, by liaising with rights organizations
worldwide. On May 9, 2001 The International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission (IGLHRC) awarded the WSG its 2001 Felipa Award
at a ceremony held in New York. The Felipa Awards, now in their
8th year, and named in honor of Felipa de Souza, a woman convicted
and tortured in Brazil by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1591 for
having sexual relationships with other women, recognize the outstanding
contributions of activists around the world striving to defend
the human rights of all those who are subject to discrimination
because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status.
______________________________________________________________
Women's Support Group
P.O. Box 48
Wattala
Tel:075-556122
Fax: 682278
Website: www.companionsonajourney.com
email: wsg@sri.lanka.net/graycat@eureka.lk
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