Coalition and Contention: LGBTQ Struggles in Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya Protests

• In Event: 50 Years of LGBTQ Scholarship at APSA Mini-Conference: Political Homophobia and Resistance

Abstract

In 2022, Sri Lankans came together in one of the largest and most coalitional protests in its history. These protests, which became known as the Aragalaya (the Struggle), began in response to a political and economic crisis that had been deepening in the country since 2019. Marked by severe inflation which sent food prices skyrocketing and a critical shortage of fuel, medicine, cooking gas, and other essential goods, the protesters attributed the drastic economic downturn to the government’s corruption, incompetence, and fiscal mismanagement and demanded the resignation of then-President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Aragalaya protests drew participants from across Sri Lanka’s societal spectrum, including the LGBTQIA+ community, who were a vital presence in the protest camp as well as in rallies and marches, with many commenters pointing to this participation as an indication of the Aragalaya’s openness and inclusivity. In the wake of the protests, however, the government has severely cracked down on the struggle, targeting protesters for prosecution and curtailing public demonstrations. In the face of this government crackdown, there has been a fierce internal debate about the relationship of LGBTQIA+ struggles with broader fights for economic and ethnic minority justice, with some arguing that these struggles are deeply interconnected, and others holding that such linkages jeopardize the specific legislative objectives of the Sri Lankan LGBTQIA+ movement. This essay explores ways in which LGBTQIA+ activists in Sri Lanka have sought to build solidarities across differences both within the Aragalaya and in its aftermath. How might these interventions point to a LGBTQIA+ politics that can address the complexity of coalition-building in authoritarian-leaning democracies?

Author

• Christine (Cricket) Keating, University of Washington