The Supreme Court today dismissed a Fundamental Rights petition challenging the legality of government circulars that allow individuals to change their gender identity through medical procedures.
The petition was filed by retired Sri Lanka Air Force officer Shantha Jayathilaka, naming former Presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe, current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and several others as respondents.
A two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justice Arjuna Obeyesekere dismissed the petition after considering preliminary objections raised by the respondents, including an argument that the petition had been filed beyond the permitted time period.
In his petition, Jayathilaka claimed that successive governments, including the present administration, had facilitated gender transition procedures in a manner inconsistent with existing laws.
He argued that Sri Lankan law does not permit a person to change their sex from male to female or female to male through surgical procedures without what he described as a biological basis. He also challenged guidelines issued in 2016 by the then Director General of Health Services, which he claimed allowed individuals to change their gender identity based on recommendations from psychiatrists.
The Supreme Court, however, rejected the petition following consideration of the objections raised by the respondents.
