For much of the law's history, the prohibition applied to only to males in 1995, Article 365 was amended to replace the word 'males' with 'persons' so that same-sex sexual activity between consenting adult females was also outlawed in addition to that between consenting adult males. Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code, which dates from the time of colonial British Ceylon, criminalizes sexual acts deemed 'against the order of nature'.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people in Sri Lanka face legal and social challenges not faced by non-LGBT people. forced anal and vaginal examinations, arbitrary detention, beatings, torture, vigilante executions, and vigilante attacks.
