Home / Contact / Stories, News & Reports / Photos

HOMOSEXUALITY IN SRI LANKA -- PAST AND PRESENT


Introduction
From 1992 onwards I spent ten years in Sri Lanka and took advantage of the great deal of free time I had to explore the country’s homosexual sub-culture. I discovered that despite homosexuality being quite prevalent in the country that almost nothing has been written on the subject, either by locals or others. What I learned intrigued and fascinated me and in the two years before I left I drew up a series of questions and presented them to 45 people I had come to know or met through these friends, then recorded and correlated their answers. I present my impressions I gained, the material I gathered and the results of the survey I conducted, hoping that they might make some contribution to cross-cultural studies of homosexuality. This commentary was written between 1998 and 2000.

By Allen Carr

Sri Lanka is a small island off the southeastern tip of India and has a civilization going back to the 5th century BC. In 2002 the population was 18 million. The first thing the visitor to Sri Lanka notices is how many young people there are; in fact 42% of the population is under 25.
The second thing the visitor will notice, at least if his is gay, is how attractive the men are. It almost seems that every second or third person is a languid, doe-eyed youth with fine features, beautiful golden or chocolate complexion and a dazzling smile. Those who head for any of the many beach resorts in the country will often sees young men, sometimes even boys in their early teens, accompanying older European tourists.
On at least 20 occasions while walking around Colombo and Kandy I was approached by young men who wanted to have sex with me. However, I suspect that most if not all these males are heterosexuals and prostitutes serving only foreign tourists and thus while they tell us something about the country’s sex industry they tell us little about Sri Lankan homosexuals.

Terminology
There was no word for homosexuality in classical Sinhala until the middle of the 20th century when the term ekalingika samsarga (same-gender sex) was coined. In the Kama Sutra, which was known in medieval Sri Lanka, there is a perfectly adequate term, tritiya prakriti (the third nature), but for some reason this never made its way into the Sinhala language. The slang and derogatory word pornya, refers to obviously effeminate males although it is also used loosely for any homosexual. I have been unable to find the origins of this word. The common word for the homosexual act is galkapanava meaning literally ‘rock breaking’. Why this word is used requires some explanation.

In Sri Lanka as throughout much of non-Muslim Asia, homosexuality is associated, not with anal sex, but with intercrural sex, that is, rubbing the penis between the thighs or the buttocks or on the abdomen. When stonemasons are breaking rocks for construction purposes they hammer a long chisel-ended iron bar on the rock until it makes a hole in which gunpowder is later put. In common imagination this action is suggestive of intercrural sex and hence the term ‘rock breaking.’ Sri Lankan homosexuals are beginning to use the English word ‘gay’ to describe themselves and for at least half a century they have used the word ‘enjoy’ for sex, whether they are speaking in English or in Sinhala. For example they will say, ‘Do you want to enjoy?’ or ‘I enjoyed him.’

Buddhism and Homosexuality
Theravada Buddhism is the religion of 75% of Sri Lanka and has had a profound influence on the country’s culture. Virtually the only references to homosexuality in Sri Lankan literature until modern times are to be found in the Buddhist scriptures and their commentaries. The Buddhist scriptures are of India origin and date from before the 2nd century BC. The commentaries were composed in Sri Lanka before the 2nd century AD but reached their present form three hundred years later. The main references to homosexuality in the scriptures are found in the Vinaya, the rules for monks. Because monks must be celibate and because breaking this rule entails expulsion from the monastic Order sexual behavior is dealt with in great detail in the Vinaya. Some sections of it are so explicit and detailed, especially those dealing with masturbation, that when it was first translated in 1938 by the Pali scholar I. B. Horner, she left parts in the original language.

Amongst the different types of homosexual behavior discussed are anal sex, mutual masturbation, genital fondling, fellatio and intercrural intercourse. There are even examples of curious types of auto-homoerotism - a story of a monk with a particularly long penis and flexible back who could fellate himself and another about a monk whose abnormally long and curved penis allowed him to sodomize himself. According to the Vinaya a monk who intentionally inserts his penis into any bodily orifice of any living being whether or not he ejaculates must be expelled from the Order. Other types of sex – mutual masturbation, intercrural sex etc – while serious offences do not entail expulsion.

Another rule of the Order is that a type of person called a pandaka cannot be ordained as a monk. The etymology of this word is unclear but is probably from apa and anda, ‘without eggs’, that is, ‘without balls.’ Pandaka is routinely translated in English as eunuch but as castration was rare in ancient India this translation seems implausible. A story in the Vinaya gives some idea of what a pandaka is. Once a monk who was a pandaka went to different groups of men asking each of them to ‘defile’ him. All of them refused and dismissed him with contempt except the mahouts and grooms in the elephant stables who were happy to oblige, although after they had satisfied themselves they ‘grumbled and became annoyed and critical.’

Clearly a pandaka is a homosexual or at least some kind of homosexual. However, there are several other stories in the Vinaya about monks having sex with each other but they are never called pandakas so it seems that this word was not a blanket word for homosexuals as such but only for obviously effeminate and promiscuous homosexuals. By the time the commentaries on the scriptures reached their final form in 5th century AD pandaka had come to be used for a variety of sexually ambiguous males including eunuchs, transvestites, hermaphrodites and transsexuals. Other than a few learned monks, I met no Sri Lankans who knew anything of the stories, ideas or terminology about homosexuality in the Vinaya and I suspect that they have had no influence in molding popular notions on the subject.

As the clergy of Theravada Buddhism is supposed to be celibate the question of homosexuality within the Order is a revenant one. The anthropologist H. L. Seneviratne speaks of an alleged ‘rampancy of homosexual abuse of the young in monasteries’ and claims that this is ‘generally taken for granted, with no notice of it being taken by either the monks or the laity.’ He goes on to say, ‘During my fieldwork I came across two painful letters addresses by young monks to a high official in the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs, asking the official to rescue them from homosexual abuse.’ While it is true that Senevitatne is generally highly critical of the clergy I found his claims widely shared by the young Sinhalese men I spoke to whether they were homosexual or not. One of my informants told me that when young he had been seduced by a monk while at Sunday school and three reported that he had had a brief liaison with monks. Homosexuality is probably more pronounced in monasteries than in ordinary society but I see no reason why it should be ‘rampant.’ I talked to three Westerners who had been monks, for three, eight and nine years, and all said they had seen little evidence of homosexuality in the Order.

But all this relates to the clergy. Would a layperson who was homosexual be infringing Buddhist teachings? Lay Buddhists are supposed to follow the Five Precepts, the third of which is a promise to avoid sexual misconduct. Roughly two thirds of my informants told me that they considered themselves to be practicing Buddhists so I asked some of them how they reconciled their homosexuality with their religion. I got a variety of answers. Many told me that the third Precept was about avoiding adultery and therefore did not pertain to homosexuality. Others thought it did but felt that while homosexuality was against the Precept it was not a very serious infringement of it and produced only little bad karma. Others told me that homosexuality is paw (immoral) but they did not have the strength to resist their desires and were resigned to suffering the negative consequences of their behavior. This was usually said with what appeared to be very little conviction or concern.

The two most sophisticated answers I got were these. Buddhism teaches that we must give up all worldly attachments. Husbands and wives have to deal with two types of attachments - that towards each other and their children and that towards sex. Homosexuals only have attachment towards sex and thus it will be easier for them to eventually be free from all attachment. Another informant who was well read in Buddhist doctrine and regularly attended talks on Buddhism told me that whether homosexuality was bad or not depended entirely on one’s intentions. He said that he was always kind, generous and affectionate towards the young men he has relationships with and that such things far outweighed the negativity of his desire, which anyway was no different from that which a husband and wife have towards each other. This idea corresponds closely with orthodox Buddhist doctrine. Generally however, I got the impression that most of my informants had never really given much thought to any possible conflicts between their religion and their sexual life.

According to A. L. de Silva it is not the gender of one’s sexual partner that determines the ethical value of a sexual act but the intention. Sexual behavior motivated by love, tenderness, the desire to please, etc, would be acceptable whether it was between a man and a woman or between two men. And the opposite would also be true (‘Homosexuality in Theravada Buddhism,’ The Buddhist’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2001). Buddhist scholar Peter Harvey makes a similar point. (An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, 2000, pp. 411-434). However, it should be pointed out that these ideas are derived from of a critical scholarly examination of the Buddhist scriptures – the average Sinhalese, including probably the average monk, is likely to be much more influenced by the traditions, superstitions and biases of his or her culture.

Homosexuality in Sri Lankan History
Other than in the commentaries to the Buddhist scriptures I have been unable to find any mention of homosexuality in ancient Sri Lankan literature, inscriptions or other historical records. Even in places where one would expect to find it mentioned – law books, medical text and religious works dealing with ethics - there is almost nothing.

The Upasakajanalankara, a layperson’s guide to the religious life composed in 12th century, discusses all types of sexual misconduct but is silent about homosexuality. Dimbuagala Kassapa’s code of monastic conduct drawn up after the reform of the Buddhist Order in the 12th century says that a monk must never put his hand around a temple boy to console him. This prohibition might have been meant to prevent homoerotic feelings being aroused but was more likely to discourage the display of any emotions in public; something that was considered inappropriate for monks.

There is ample evidence in Sri Lankan history of deep and enduring friendships between men which could suggest homoeroticism although this is never anything more than implied. One of the most interesting such ‘David and Jonathan’ relationships was that between Prince Manavamma and the Tamil King Narasiha. Manavamma was of royal birth but politics forced him to flee to India where he found employment at the court of Narasiha. Gradually a friendship grew up between the two men. Once the king showed Manavamma the highest mark of honor and affection by drinking from a coconut and then passing it to him. Manavamma took a sip and then handed it back to the king who drunk the rest. After this the friendship and affection between the two men deepened. When Narasiha’s kingdom was invaded by a neighbor his first thought was for his friend. If Manavamma joined the fighting and was killed, ‘all that we have planned together would be without result’, and so he bid Manavamma to stay in the capital while he marched off to battle. But Manavamma thought, ‘If the king dies while I am alive what is my life to me? I would betray his trust in me if I did so. He has made me his equal and therefore it behooves me to go with him to the battlefield. It is my happiness to either live or die with him.’

Thinking this Manavamma rode off to join Narasiha. When the king saw that his friend had come to join him he was overjoyed and the two of them led their troops into battle and defeated the enemy. After the victory the king ‘embraced Manavamma lovingly’ says as he did so, ‘It is you who have given me victory’. Out of gratitude for his devotion Narasiha gave Manavamma an army so he could invade Sri Lanka and try to win the crown. Manavamma’s army marched on Anuradhapura and king Dathopatissa fled. But at this crucial juncture word reached the troops that Narasiha was seriously ill and they decided to return to India. Emboldened by this turn of events Dathopatissa rallied his forces and Manavamma had to flee back to India also. He waited at Narasiha’s court ‘through the reign of four kings’ serving his friend and biding his time. Eventually the king thought, ‘with his pride unbroken and honor as his wealth, my friend serves me for the sake of royal dignity and he will become old and gray thereby. When I see this how can I exercise dominion. If I cannot send him with an army to gain a kingdom what is my life to me’. So another army was assembled, Narasiha gave his own armor to Manavamma and he invaded Lanka and made himself king (Culavamsa XLVII,1-58)

Robert Knox, an English Puritan who spent 19 years in Sri Lanka in the 17th century noticed that the then king, Rajasingha II, surrounded himself with handsome youths. Knox wrote, ‘Most of his Attendants are Boyes, and Young Men, that are well favored, and of good Parentage. For the supplying himself with there, he gives order to his Dissava’s or Governors of the countries to pick and choose out Boyes, that are comely and of good Descent, and send them to the Court. These boyes go bare-headed with long hair hanging down their backs. Not that he is guilty of Sodomy, nor did I ever hear the Sin so much as mentioned among them.’ The last part of Knox’s final sentence is undoubtedly the reason why there are so few references to homosexuality in Sri Lankan history - it was simply never talked about.

It is only from the late 19th century onwards that we begin getting the first odd mentions of love between men and most of these concern Sri Lankans of part-European decent (Burgers and Anglo-Sinhalese) or European expatriates. The English Theosophist C. W. Leadbeater who was headmaster of the boy’s school Ananda Collage in Colombo was a notorious homosexual. One of my informants told me that in the 1940’s he had known a man who had been at Ananda Collage when Leadbeater was headmaster. According to this man, good-looking well-built boys were always being called to Leadbeater’s room for ‘special instruction.’ Letters exist in which Leadbeater encourages the boys he is corresponding with to masturbate or at least not feel anxious about masturbating. Leadbeater was ostracized by Colombo ’s English community but the city’s Sinhalese elite whose sons were being educated at Ananda Collage said not a word against him.

In 1901 the great military hero Sir Hector Macdonald was dismissed from his post as commander of British forces in Ceylon for supposedly having sexual relations with his young native servants. After these accusations became public Macdonald committed suicide.

Some of the members of the influential ‘43 Group’ were fairly openly homosexual, particularly David Paynter and Lionel Wendt. Many of Wendt’s photos and Paynter’s sketches and paintings are of naked or scantily clad youths. Towards the end of his life Paynter retired to a home for orphan boys in Nuwara Eliya which had been founded by his family.

Directly after the Second World War a former RAF officer named R. Raven-Hart settled in Sri Lanka and become well known for the numerous books he wrote and the articles on Sri Lankan history which he contributed to learned journals. Raven-Hart’s writings contain frequent oblique hints to his interest in teenage boys. In the engaging account he wrote of his journey to places of Buddhist pilgrimage in India in 1956 he referred to the ‘superb young manhood naked above the waist; boys with the irreducible minimum of clothing’ that he encountered in villages. ‘Sweets were sold on the train by small Sikh boys, many of them as delectable as their wares were not.’ He mentioned that ‘head and body massage is a great institution in India , and excellent some of those young rubbers are… You should try it; if you are of doing so in public, the room ‘boy’ at any hotel will get a lad to come there, which will incidentally allow him to work more efficiently, in privacy and unhampered by your clothes…’

At Bodh Gaya Raven-Hart took a village boy with him on his hikes around the countryside. ‘(W)e found a lonely island-sandbank, and had a swim and lay in the sun to dry. I regretted that I had no camera since the lad was a beautifully-made fourteen or fifteen, with square, flat pectorals, and the abdominal muscles clearly defined right down to the just-growing pubic hair.’ It is indicative of Sinhalese naiveté about homosexuality and also somewhat amusing that Raven-Hart’s book is still widely used by Sinhalese pilgrims going to India and no one seems to notice its numerous homoerotic passages.

One of Raven-Hart’s former ‘servants’ told me that the old man would have several young boys from remote villages working for him as servants, gardeners and watchers. He would pay for their education or to learn a trade and when they were 18 or 19 send them back to their homes with enough money to get started in life.

Perhaps Sri Lanka ’s most interesting non-Sinhalese homosexual was Bevis Bhava, older brother of the renowned architect Jeffery Bhava, who was himself homosexual. Bhava had been aid de camp to the last two British governors of Ceylon and spent much of his life laying out an extensive and bucolic garden at Bentota. There he lived with his beautiful young servants and entertained his numerous guests. During the 40’s and 50’s celebrities traveling ‘East of Suez’ would stay with or at least visit Bhava and his famous house and garden. One of his long-term guests was the Australian painter Donald Friend who stayed from 1957 to 1961 and visited several times subsequently. Robin Maugham wrote about Bhava in his book Search for Nirvana (1975).

The most high profile Sinhalese homosexual of the 20th century was the raffish and popular politician Vijayananda Dahanayake who served briefly as Prime Minister in 1959. Dahanayake’s penchant for teenage boys was a source of much good-natured humor by those of his constituents and fellow parliamentarians who were in the know. His house in Galle was adjacent a school and the joke was that any boy who went into his garden to retrieve a ball would take time returning and when he did he would usually have a sheepish look on his face and 5 Rupee in his pocket.

Today at least two senior politicians are homosexual, as is a famous cricketer, several popular actors and numerous people prominent in Sri Lanka ’s arts scene. In 1999 Shyam Selvadurai’s book ‘Funny Boy’ was published to wide acclaim and is, I think, the only literary work written by a Sri Lankan which discusses homosexuality. Perhaps it is significant that Selvadurai is Tamil and now lives outside Sri Lanka .

Transvestitism
I met only one transvestite during my stay in Sri Lanka and heard of only one other incident of it. In 1994 a report appeared in the English press concerning a woman who had been awarded the president’s prize of Woman Entrepreneur of the Year. Some days after receiving the prize a relative of the recipient informed the authorities that the women was in fact a man and there was discussion about whether the prize should be withdrawn. I watched the press for the outcome of this interesting and unusual case but no follow-up report appeared.

While in Kandy a friend introduced me to a slim slightly effeminate youth of 19 who invited me to his family home in a small village near Matale. The young man’s family greeted me hospitably and while I was sitting drinking the tea they had offered I noticed two wedding photos on the wall and asked to see them. My friend’s mother showed me the first photo , which was of a bride in a Western style-wedding gown and her groom in a suit and told me it was of her daughter and son-in-law. The second photo showed a woman in an identical wedding gown and was, the woman said, of her youngest son, my friend. At first I thought I had misunderstood the woman but looking more carefully at the photo I saw that it was indeed my friend. He cheerfully told me that after his sister had had her photo taken he had donned her gown and had his photo taken too. He showed no embarrassment at telling me this in the presence of his mother and several siblings and they showed none either. I asked my friend why he had posed in his sister’s gown and he simply said, ‘Because it was so beautiful.’ I asked many of my informants if they knew any transvestites and none of them did.

Meeting Men
Until recently there was only one place in the whole country where people could meet and be open about their homosexuality; the bar at the Lionel Wendt Theater in Colombo . This venue was open on a regular basis to groups of friends and acquaintances although it was only known to and available for a small circle of the Colombo Anglicized elite. Since the 1980’s several public toilets around Colombo have become pick up places – those at the Colombo Bus Station, the Colombo Public Library, Maradana railway station, the YMBA at Borella, the YMCA in Fort and at the library at Colombo University . However, these places are extremely dirty and odorous and anyway, the Sri Lankans prefer their pick up places to be outdoors.

Galle Face Green in Colombo and the bund of the lake at Kandy have long been pick up places and much more so since the 1980’s. Evidence suggests that Galle Face Green has been frequented by homosexuals for more than a century. In an account of a visit to Sri Lanka published in 1882 the English author mentions walking on Galle Face in the early evening and being approached by ‘a very pretty Ceylonese youth who made an extremely improper suggestion to me.’ The beach from Bambalapitiya railway station to beyond Wellawatta railway station is another such place but because of the dark at night it can also be dangerous. One of the very few pick up places outside Colombo is the ramparts on the landside of the old fort at Galle .

Of my informants it was mainly the young ones who visited these places. The older ones (over 30) had for the most part evolved ingenious ways of getting sexual partners without having to go cruising. The most common way seemed to be meeting someone at bus stops, while shopping, on the street, etc, befriending them, making arrangements to meet them at a certain place and them seducing them. One informant had the keys to the office where he worked and where he kept a collection of pornographic magazines. When he met a youth he desired he would tell them about these magazines and invite them to come and see them. He told me that this technique never failed. I also found it common for one friend to pass the men they met on to their friends. Most of my informants told me that they find it easy to ‘chat up’ potential straight sexual partners and my encounters with Sinhalese convinced me that they were right.

The Sinhalese are a noticeably open and friendly people. It is not considered at all untoward for one male to smile at another, approach him and then begin talking to him. The first words usually spoken on meeting a friend or even a stranger are ‘Koyheda yane?’ (Where are you going?). An older male will address a younger one, even a stranger, as mali (younger brother), one the same age as machang (cousin) and an older one as ayya (older brother). Such etiquette, combined with the guilelessness and curiosity characteristic of many Sinhalese, especially rural people, makes it very easy to initiate friendship.

Male Prostitution
My inquiries convinced me that young heterosexual men entering into sexual relationships with older or more powerful men is very common in Sri Lanka and probably hoary as well. Whether or not this can be called prostitution is problematic. Rather, it seems to be consistent with the patronage culture in Sri Lankan society and the noticeable dependency mentality of the Sinhalese. Sinhalese learn very quickly that they are unlikely to get ahead in life unless they have a powerful patron and they have few qualms in doing what is needed to acquire this patronage. Far from being an aberration, this is normal, expected even.

Since the late 1970’s when Sri Lanka embarked on economic reforms and tourism started becoming economically important he country has become a major destination for gay tourists. Male prostitution, with all its associated problems, had burgeoned. In the 1990’s this phenomena was often highlighted in the press and some observers started wondering whether the profits earned from mass tourism were worth the cost.

One news report claims that up to 100,000 boys and young men were working as prostitutes at various beach resorts, although this number has never been verified and is almost certainly an exaggeration. These young prostitutes are usually called ‘beach boys’. In the media male prostitution is often discussed together with pedophilia, AIDS and drug abuse and this has caused some consternation amongst local homosexuals. One of my informants summed up the feelings of many of them. ‘Here we are doing our own thing and not being disturbed, then they (the tourists) come along and the whole thing gets pushed into the papers. Now everyone is talking about gays and thinking we are all prostitutes’.

Another said, ‘You used to be able to get a boy for a (disposable cigarette) lighter and a few rupees. Now they expect a pair of Nikes and 500 Rupees. And you don’t know who has AIDS either’. In the late 1990’s parliament reiterated the illegality of homosexuality and increased penalties for it. These moves seemed aimed mainly at foreign tourists but they have worried local homosexuals too.

Why Sri Lanka?
The usual explanation for the high incidence of male prostitution in Sri Lanka is the economic one - that a combination of wealthy tourists and poor locals is causing it. However, while the economic disparity between visitors and locals is obviously a factor I do not think it is the only one or even the main one. After all, poverty has not led to a noticeable increase in the number of female prostitutes. Also, India , Burma and Nepal are all poorer than Sri Lanka and some of them have large tourist industries and yet they have not become major gays destinations.

I will offer another explanation. Sinhalese will express disapproval of homosexuality (and other ‘vices’ like theft, drinking, lying, corruption etc) but this disapproval seems very shallow or even sometimes just for ‘public consumption.’ As soon as a personal advantage is perceived in some behavior inhibitions and scruples will be quickly put aside. ‘Face’ and public ridicule or disapproval will certainly inhibit how Sinhalese behave but religious teachings and the moral sense much less so.

In the 17th century Robert Knox noted with astonishment that Sinhalese parents were happy to let their daughters sleep with the sons of the aristocracy if they thought it might bring them some material advantage. ‘(N)or doth it displease the Parents if young men of as good quality as themselves become acquainted with their daughters but rather like well of it; Knowing that their daughters by this means can command the young men to help and assist them in any work or business that they may have occasion to use them in. And they look upon it so far distant from a disgrace that they will among their consorts brag of it, that they have the young men thus at their command… They do not matter or regard whether their Wives at the first Marriage be Maids or not. And for a small reward the Mother will bring her Daughter being a Maiden unto those that do desire her.’

Visitors to Sri Lanka have long remarked on what they have perceived to be the feminine-like beauty and behavior of Sinhalese males. This perception was extenuated by the dress and accoutrements that low-country males wore until the early 20th century. Edward Carpenter, a connoisseur of male beauty wrote, ‘Their large eyes and tortoise-shell combs and long hair give them a very womanly aspect; and many of the boys and youths have very girlish features and expressions. They have nearly always grace and dignity of manner, the better types decidedly handsome…’

After his visit to Sri Lanka in 1897 Mark Twain wrote, ‘January 14. Hotel Bristol. Servant Brompy. Alert, gentle, smiling, winning young brown creature as ever was. Beautiful shining black hair combed back like a woman’s and knotted at the back of his head –tortoise-shell comb in it, sign that he is Singhalese; slender, shapely form; jacket; under it is a beltless and flowing white cotton gown – from neck straight to heel; he and his outfit quite unmasculine. It was an embarrassment to undress before him.’

Thirty years later Frances Keys too was struck by the effeminate dress and demeanor of the men. ‘For one startled moment, I was not sure whether I was looking at a man or a woman; and though of course I soon learned that this is the typical headdress of the male low-country Sinhalese… (T)he flowing robes and the long hair adopted by both sexes, combined with the slight figures and somewhat effeminate faces often seen among the men, often arouse a similar uncertainty until their wearers are close at hand’.

Even today it is not unusual for youths to paint one of their fingernails or all their toe nails with finger nail polish. Men often hold hands, put their arms around each other or lounge in each other’s arms. Despite often being well built and muscular, the fine features, flawless complexions and gentleness of many young men gives them a distinctly feminine or perhaps better, non-macho, presence that many foreign homosexuals would find very appealing.

I believe that a combination of the willingness of Sinhalese males to participate in homosexual activity for gain, their physical attractiveness, the general openness of Sinhalese society and the prevalence of English attracts foreign homosexuals to Sri Lanka .

Survey
Over a two year period I interviewed 45 homosexual men ranging in age from 17 to 66. All were Sinhalese Buddhists except one who was Catholic and two who were Tamil, one a Catholic and the other a Hindu. This predominance of Sinhalese Buddhists was not by choice, it just happened that way. Roughly half my informants spoke good English, 11 spoke none at all and the rest spoke it with various degrees of competence. All my informants were living and working in either Colombo , Kandy , Galle , Kurunagala or Anuradhapura and two thirds were born in urban centers and one third in villages. Sixteen were married or had been married.

Initiation into Sex
Twelve of my informants had their first sexual experience with a schoolteacher, ten with a relative, six with a servant and five with family friends. The rest were initiated into sex by schoolmates, strangers and in one case a monk. Of the 45 the youngest first had sex at 11 and the oldest at 26, the average being 17.

Sexual Practices
Only five informants said they enjoyed sodomizing their partners although they said it was difficult to find those who would allow this to be done to them. Another six said they enjoyed being sodomized. Nearly all the others said that they had never engaged in anal intercourse and expressed revulsion towards the practice. The general opinion was that it is painful and dirty. The most common sexual practices were intercrurial intercourse, fellatio, mutual masturbation and one partner lying on top of the other and rubbing themselves until orgasm. Except for one informant who had studied in the USA and another who had once seen a magazine on the subject, none had ever heard of leather or other fetishes or sadomasochism.

Problems
Nearly all my informants told me that the greatest problem they had as homosexuals was the absence of a convenient place where they could have sex. Trying to find somewhere which was clean, comfortable, where they could have a wash afterwards and enjoy themselves without the fear of being interrupted was mentioned as a constant frustration. Even the six informants who had a homes to themselves said that they often refrained from bringing partners home for fear of being discovered and gossiped about. Those who had access to a home, spare room or even office empty at night were always being contacted by gay friends pleading to be able to use the place.

Another problem frequently mentioned was anxiety that their family or non-gay friends would come to know about their homosexuality.

Another common complaint was that Sinhalese men are unresponsive and unimaginative concerning sex. One put it this way. ‘They can’t imagine anything beyond starting, finishing and getting away as quickly as possible’. I put it to this informant that this might be because most of the men he had sex with were heterosexual and did not really enjoy sex with males. He replied, ‘Look! I know quite a few married men and they all say the same thing about their wives – they just lie there like a bag of paddy. I have had men who have been married for years and their wives have never given them oral sex and until they knew me they had never even heard of it. Our people no nothing about sex’.

Racial Preferences
Nearly all the 45 males I spoke to told me that they found Westerners sexually desirable and would be interested in having sex with them. Twelve had already been able to do this, several when they visited or were studying in the West and the others with Westerners they had met in Sri Lanka . All the 12 said they found Westerners more sensual and sexually adept than Sinhalese. Sexual attraction crossed the Sinhalese-Tamil divide. None of the Sinhalese said they had any objections to having sex with Tamils and some had close gay Tamil friends or acquaintances.

The situation was different with Muslims though. Except for one informant who found circumcised penises highly attractive the majority expressed dislike for Muslims and did not like them as friends or sexual partners. This is despite the widespread belief that Muslims have very strong libidos because of all the meat they eat. Of the nine informants who had been to the West four said that while they liked Westerners as sexual partners they preferred Sinhalese who they considered to be the most beautiful men in the world. One told me that several of his siblings living in Australia had offered to help him immigrate but that he was not interested in doing so because he believed that he had much more opportunities to have close relationships in Sri Lanka and because he liked Sinhalese males more.

Age Preferences
Although most of my informants liked their partners to be young this did not seem to be an imperative, they were happy to have sex with anyone even if they were much older than themselves. One informant, a soldier in his early 20’s, positively preferred men in their 50’s and 60’s and several of my informants in that age group said they occasionally met young men who were attracted to them specifically because of their age. Perhaps the high regard for the elderly in Sri Lankan society can explain this interesting phenomena.

HIV-AIDS and STD
All my informants had heard of AIDS but except for seven of the older and better educated ones most had either a vague or a confused idea about what it is and how it is transmitted. Many thought that they were more likely to get AIDS from a Westerner than from a Sri Lankan and few of them seemed too concerned about getting the disease. None had ever used a condom despite them being widely and easily available. The general attitude was that AIDS is something that would happen to someone else. Only one informant had known or even heard of someone who had died of the disease. Only one had ever contracted a sexually transmitted disease. The man, in his 30’s, only discovered that he had syphilis when he went to have a blood test for some other complaint. I discussed STD with about a dozen of my informants and the understanding and attitude was similar to that towards AIDS.