Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has given the green light to a bill seeking to decriminalize homosexuality, the speaker of parliament said on Tuesday, in a move hailed as a “historic development” by campaigners.
LGBTQ+ rights activists in Sri Lanka have been campaigning for years to change the law in a country where homosexuality is still punishable by a prison sentence and a fine, leading to the private member’s bill presented in parliament last month. The Supreme Court, after hearing more than a dozen petitions on both sides of the argument, ruled it was not unconstitutional, Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said.
The decision is seen as a “historic development that has created hope towards real change,” said Kaveesha Coswatte, an attorney-at-law and advocacy officer for iProbono in Sri Lanka, which supported many of the petitions backing the bill. Activists will still have to lobby for support from the 225 parliamentarians to push forward the proposed legislation through parliament.
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