Gender identity refers to your internal sense of self. Sometimes our gender identity does not correspond with the sex assigned to at us birth. If this happens, some may identify as transgender. Some of us who are transgender take hormonal therapy, and may undergo gender reassignment surgery to change our sex to match our gender identity.

This does not mean that everyone wants to transition between the gender-binary of man and woman. Some prefer to use the term non-binary and refuse to be defined as man or woman. This is also a valid gender identity.

In 2015, the gender neutral honorific Mx was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (beside Mr, Ms, Mrs and Miss) to be used by those who do not wish to specify their gender or those who prefer not to identify themselves as male or female.

There is also difference between gender identity, which refers to gender, and sexual orientation, which refers to whom one is romantically and sexually attracted. Gender identity and sexual orientation do not always line-up heteronormatively. For example, it is possible for someone to be a trans-man (be assigned female at birth but grow up as a man) to be romantically and sexually attracted to men, and identify as gay.

In Sri Lanka, it is possible to change one’s sex to match one’s gender identity. The Ministry of Health helps facilitate this process – issuing a Government Circular in 2016 on ‘Issuing a Gender Recognition Certificate for the Transgender Community‘. Trans activists and allies in Sri Lanka have since succeeded in getting birth certificates, national identity cards, passports, and educational certificates to correspond to their chosen gender identity.

In 2018 the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists (SLCP) annouced that non-heterosexual orientations and diverse gender identities including the categorization of Lesbian (LGBT), Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, are not mental health disorders.

The then Vice-President of the SLCP, and trans-ally, Dr. Kapila Ranasinghe stated the following to the Ceylon Today publication:

“Gender identity and sexual orientation are not binary in the sense that it revolves solely around heterosexual behaviour, he added. “The majority of the people do identify as themselves as heterosexuals. An individual’s position in the spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities is actually fluid, meaning that it is prone to be different from that of another,” Dr. Ranasinghe added. He noted that although it is a view held among certain medical professionals worldwide, there are however, doctors in the country that are not aware of new and recognized medical perspectives and thus have not updated their scientific knowledge.”

Myths and misconceptions compounded by the lack of scientifically accurate information has led to people who identify as trans and non-binary, in particular, to face stigma and discrimination; this includes the loss of employment, housing, property and inheritance. Some trans men and women in Sri Lanka have also survived sexual violence at the hands of law enforcement.

The prevailing myth about those who are trans and non-binary is that they want to make everyone else question their sex assigned at birth too. Speaking with trans men and women would disabuse you of this ignorant notion. We want the freedom to be who we are! We’re not interested in making you different to who you are!

Growing up in a deeply heteronormative culture, moving beyond the gender binary of man and woman can be difficult. In the age of social media, given the hateful algorythm bubbles that exist, including regressive policies currently coming out of the US which repeatedly espouses – THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS! – it is not surprising that trans and non-binary people in Sri Lanka face continued trauma and violence, despite the gains made with the medical and scientific communities.

Remember, what we need to do is respect and value people who are different. Yet, instead we have been taught to hate and mistrust this difference. The fact is that genetically humans are less different from each other globally than one group of chimpanzees across the river from another in Africa.

Trans and non-binary people have always been here, and are no less human than you.