“Where there is love, there is life; gender has no role to play here”

The project “PRIDE 2.0 – Equality Wins” which commenced on the 7th of November 2023, for the 2nd consecutive year, is a signature initiative by the International Service Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Our goal was to educate society about the LGBTQIA+ community, to open minds up to the possibility of close relationships with a wider range of people throughout the world, to help build knowledge and understanding and respect throughout our communities and society and to enhance the public awareness of the issues faced particularly by the LGBTQIA+ community.

The project was carried out in three directions namely creating awareness, normalizing, and putting a stop to discrimination. In the first phase, we planned to make society more appraised of the LGBTQIA+ community through a series of webinars and interviews with members and allies of the community who are currently involved in the fight of establishing the rights, protection and promotion of the said rights in Sri Lanka. We also conducted a survey to identify the extent to which society is aware of the LGBTQIA+ community and the discrimination faced by them.

In the second phase, we collaborated with several International Rotaract Clubs and requested them to conduct awareness sessions on the LGBTQIA+ society so that our message could be reached a global audience. Throughout this project, as many people perceive the LGBTQIA+ community as an unfit gathering for society, we were focused on making them normalized and accepted by society. Through these collaborations, we hoped to provide knowledge and awareness on, how to develop and improve relationships, and knowledge on the LGBTQIA+ community and how to become an accepting and loyal ally to the community.

For our final phase, we contributed to decorating the Shalika hall, Narahenpita for a New Year Celebration organized by the Heart to Heart organization, Sri Lanka, which was exclusively for the members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Seeing them enjoying their basic human rights as one community without any discrimination from outer forces, motivated us even more to support and protect this special community from any dark forces that would come in disguise and shatter their freedom.

We are pleased to say that we were able to successfully conclude this initiative on the 31st of May 2023 on a global scale, cooperating with International Rotaractors to mitigate discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community.

Written by: Rtr. Rashini Munasinghe

Graphic design by: Rtr. Anujini Perera