Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rohini Kumari Wijerathna criticised the government on Thursday (04) for not supporting her Private Member Bill aimed at banning conversion therapy in Sri Lanka. This bill seeks to prohibit attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
MP Wijerathna expressed concern over the lack of understanding among many Sri Lankans regarding sexual orientation. She pointed out that the World Health Organization acknowledges that homosexuality is not a mental illness and emphasised that people are born with their sexual orientation. She said her bill was tabled in Parliament in 2022.
Highlighting the need to remove legal barriers that infringe upon the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and questioning (LGBTIQ) individuals, Wijerathna asserted that they should not be treated differently.
Wijerathna urged the Government to push this crucial piece of legislation through because the government needs to protect the rights of LGBTIQ individuals.
Wijerathna ’s said her bill aims to end conversion therapy. She claims this is a pseudoscientific and harmful practice. She says conversion therapy seeks to ‘correct’ an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Wijerathna ‘s bill seeks to put an end to this practice, which she described as “most unscientific and harmful” to LGBTIQ individuals in Sri Lanka.
from The Island https://ift.tt/RU5Z2Tu
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