Equal Ground

Equal Ground

Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, LGBT activist from Sri Lanka
Formation	2004
Founder	Rosanna Flamer-Caldera
Type	Non-profit
Purpose	Advocates for political and social rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), intersex and queer people
Headquarters	Colombo, Sri Lanka

Equal Ground is a non-profit organization based in Colombo Sri Lanka that advocates for political and social rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), intersex and queer people. The organization, established in 2004, claims to be the first organization in Sri Lanka that welcomes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities...^[1] The organization was founded by Sri Lankan gay rights activist Rosanna Flamer-Caldera and offers trilingual publications and services.^[2] It aims to achieve its goals through political activism, education, personal support, building awareness and through organized community events. It has been working more closely with lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in areas of human rights, law reform, sexual health, and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization continues to face many challenges working in Sri Lanka where homosexuality is stigmatized and considered criminal offense that can earn up to ten years of prison under the law.^[3] Efforts of the LGBT activists to undo the British colonial law criminalizing sodomy was not repealed, but the law was expanded to include women and the penalty was worsened.^[4] Queer groups in Sri Lanka have frequently stated that some of their members have been subjected to harassment—by blackmail or by threats with exposition or arrest—by police and other people, using the legal provision.^[5]

Notable works

• Equal Ground provided disaster relief to its community and others when the 2004 Tsunami hit Sri Lanka leaving many deaths and homelessness.^[6]
• Colombo Pride is the only annual Pride celebration in Sri Lanka, and is organized by Equal Ground since 2005. The first ever event was attended by around 350 people. The newspaper Ceylon Today describes it as a week-long joyous celebration with a variety of events full of color, music and diversity.^[7]
• Equal Ground launched its first publication "Human, Right?" in 2005 to celebrate the International Day against Homophobia (IDAHOT). The publication located LGBTQ rights within the larger framework of human rights and appealed for the importance of LGBTQ rights as a part of human rights.^[8]
• Rainbow News, which is published quarterly by Equal Ground is the Sri Lanka's only LGBT publication.
• The annual South Asian Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Conference and Training was supported by Equal Ground in the years of 2010 and 2011.
• The organization launched it's "I Might be Transgender: a booklet for transgender youth" at the 2014 IDAHOT conference that took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It also released the documentary "The Invisible Stain" at the same occasion.^[9]
• Equal Ground working in collaboration with the Kaleidoscope Australia Human Rights Foundation, a group that promotes equal rights for LGBT people in Asia Pacific region, submitted an alternative human rights report on "Sri Lanka's protection of the rights of LGBTI Persons" to the United Nations Human Rights Committee in September 2014.^[10]

Achievements and recognition

Following Equal Ground and Kaleidoscope Australia's 2014 shadow report on LGBT rights in Sri Lanka that was submitted to the United Nations Humans Rights Committee, the government representatives from Sri Lanka admitted to the committee for the first time that the human rights of LGBT people were protected under the country's anti-discrimination laws. LGBT rights activists and the community widely welcomed this as a small change in the positive direction.^[11] In 2012 Women Deliver identified Equal Ground as one of the fifty most influential groups around the world that provides services to women. Women deliver appreciated and congratulated Equal Ground for its work towards leadership and empowerment of women.^[12]

Challenges

Equal Ground has been under government, police and media scrutiny since its launching. Events organized by the organization were raided by the police and criminal investigators several times. According to The Bay Area Reporter, Equal Ground activists have received death threats from Muslim fundamentalists for spreading homosexuality in Sri Lanka.^[13] In 2009, following one of its educative workshops on HIV/AIDS that included a demonstration of condom use, the organization was attacked and also electronically harassed by conservative Muslim groups.^[14] A radio talk show which featured Buddhist, Christian and Muslim leaders compared homosexuality to rape and murder and accused homosexuals of spreading sexually transmitted diseases and being pedophiles. The leaders present on the show warned parents to protect their children from homosexuals and condemned Sri Lankan NGO working to abolish the criminalization of homosexuality.^[15]

Criticisms

An article published in the newspaper The Nation criticized Equal Ground and its Pride events as elitist and serving the needs of higher class people living in Colombo rather than reaching or impacting the rural areas of Sri Lanka. The article also questioned whether there is any need for Pride and claimed the Pride events as dangerous as it makes an 'issue' of homosexuality.^[16] Several other mainstream newspapers and media continue to publish articles against homosexuality and groups that support LGBT rights in Sri Lanka.

See also

• LGBT history in Sri Lanka

References

1. "EQUAL GROUND".
2. "GO Magazine - Fighting for Equal Ground in Sri Lanka".
3. "Sri Lanka".
4. Kaushalya Perera. "12". In SASKIA E. WIERINGA. Sexualizing the State: Sodomy, Civil Liberties, and the Indian Penal Code (PDF). Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia. Notes on the Post Colonial Present. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
5. Joyoti Puri. Angana Chatterji; Lubna Chowdhury, eds. "Stories to tell: A queer women's oral history in Sri Lanka" (PDF). WOMEN-LOVING-WOMENIN AFRICA AND ASIA. Zubaan Books. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
6. "PrideSource - Sri Lankan gay group provides disaster relief". Pridesource.
7. Yashasvi Kannangara (2012-06-12). "Ceylon Today — Celebrate diversity in true Colombo Pride style". Ceylon Today. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
8. "Gay Sri Lanka". GlobalGayz.
9. +IDAHO Admin. "IDAHOT Report 2014: Sri Lanka". IDAHOT – International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia – May 17 -.
10. "GayNZ.com Sri Lanka takes anti-discrimination stride".
11. "Kaleidoscope Australia welcomes the Sri Lankan government response to its ICCPR review - Kaleidoscope Australia".
12. Women Deliver 2010. "Women Deliver » Knowledge Center » Women Deliver Publications » Women Deliver 50 (2012) » Leadership and Empowerment".
13. "The Bay Area Reporter Online - Sri Lanka's emerging
    LGBT rights movement". Bay Area Reporter.
14. Raisa Wickrematunge. "On Overcoming Prejudice: Rosanna Flamer-Caldera" (PDF). thesundayleader.lk. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
15. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) (October 2014). "Violence Against Lesbians, Bisexual Women and Transgender Persons in Sri Lanka: A Shadow Report" (PDF). IGLHRC: International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Geneva. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
16. "nation.lk ::: - 'Colombo Pride' gaily serves the elite".