The Commonwealth nation of Sri Lanka, which the United Nations is warning is turning into an authoritarian state, has begun to step up its repression of its glbti citizens, according to human rights workers. The government, which controls the police, military and media, is said to be orchestrating a smear campaign to isolate gays from the rest of society by portraying them as pedophiles and criminals. In a complex string of events, carried out by a radio station which says its aims are "revealing truth of the social issues and what people doing in the corrupted community," a raid was carried out on an alleged male prostitution operation in combination with a reporter making a false proposal of marriage to a youth who is variously being described as gay or transgender. The youth's identity was publicly revealed and he has now fled to the sanctuary of a monastery. Meanwhile, a monk has been accused of having sex with under-age boys in what is suspected to be a trumped-up charge. A human rights activist quoted by Gay Star News says earlier this year Sri Lankan police stated that homosexuality is the leading cause of child abuse in the country. The biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, which Prime Minister John Key will attend, will be held in Sri Lanka in mid-November. is now orchestrating a smear campaign against the community to project its members as criminals and pedophiles and alienate them from civil society - See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/sri-lanka-begins-%E2%80%98systematic-targeting%E2%80%99-gays070913#sthash.zmoQrQbO.dpuf
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 8th September 2013 - 1:07pm