Supreme Court dismisses petition challenging gender change circular

The Supreme Court on Monday (20) dismissed, without taking up for consideration, a Fundamental Rights petition seeking to invalidate a circular that permits individuals in Sri Lanka to legally change their gender.

The petition had been filed by retired Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Warrant Officer Shantha Jayathilake, who challenged the legality of procedures allowing individuals to alter their gender designation following medical and psychiatric assessments.

Former Presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe, as well as incumbent President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, were among those named as respondents in the petition.

The petitioner alleged that successive governments, including the present administration, had facilitated gender changes through medical procedures in a manner contrary to Sri Lankan law.

Jayathilake contended that the law does not permit a person to change their sex from male to female or female to male through medical intervention in the absence of a biological basis. He further argued that individuals had been allowed to alter their gender identity on the recommendation of a psychiatrist under guidelines issued in 2016 by the then Director General of Health Services.

The petitioner also claimed that authorities had been issuing revised birth certificates and National Identity Cards to persons who had undergone gender-transition procedures, maintaining that such actions were unlawful.

However, the Supreme Court declined to entertain the application and dismissed the petition without granting leave to proceed.