Colombo, June 16 (EFE).– Activists for equal rights in Sri Lanka gathered in Colombo on Sunday to celebrate Pride Month and demand urgent changes, including the repeal of the law that criminalizes homosexuality.
This marks the third consecutive year that the community has taken to the streets to assert its place in society after decades of intimidation and exclusion.
The event, themed “Stronger Together,” was one of many organized by Sri Lanka’s LGBT+ community.
For Equal Ground, the organization behind Sunday’s march, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the start of Pride celebrations.
“The Colombo Pride Festival started during the war. We didn’t take to the streets because it wasn’t (safe),” Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, LGBTQ+ rights activist and founder of Equal Ground, told EFE.
Caldera emphasized that this year’s march had the character of a silent protest for community rights. “We want it to be a safe and happy place for everyone.”
Navoda Bennet, a non-binary trans fashion designer who identifies as feminine, wore an outfit of her own design and enthusiastically joined the LGBTQ+ community in Narahenpita, Colombo, to celebrate her culture.
Introducing her performance as “the mascot of pride,” Bennet said this year’s costume was inspired by Sri Lanka’s colonial history and trans identity. “It represents chaos, trauma,” she told EFE.
Navoda expressed her satisfaction at participating in the Pride march, which she has attended since the Aragalaya popular movement in 2022—a wave of street protests triggered by the economic crisis that led to the government’s collapse.
“I feel that after the Aragalaya, Colombo is a safer place for us. There is more exposure to the LGBT+. There was awareness about the queer community for cops (police) too. There is a positive change,” Navoda said. EFE
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