{"id":52705,"date":"2012-09-01T10:28:09","date_gmt":"2012-09-01T10:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=52705"},"modified":"2012-09-02T12:27:56","modified_gmt":"2012-09-02T12:27:56","slug":"is-ranil-gay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/is-ranil-gay\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Ranil Gay?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Indi Samarajiva<\/a>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Indi Samarajiva<\/p><\/div>\n

It is commonly said that Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a><\/span> is gay, but rarely published. Now that\u2019s starting to bubble up. I saw it on\u00a0W3 Lanka English<\/a>, and now on\u00a0Abyss<\/a>. Oh, I see where it\u2019s coming from. Ranil\u2019s charge sheet (from his own party) includes allegations of sexual harassment, against men.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The United National Party (UNP) dissidents have alleged that party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has attempted to seduce several young male politicians to have homosexual relations with him, according to a \u2018charge sheet\u2019 handed over to the party\u2019s general secretary Tissa Attanayake, last week.<\/p>\n

Charge number 16 of the document refers to an alleged incident in which the UNP leader had tried to seduce Matara district UNP MP Buddhika Pathirana into \u2018an illicit homosexual relationship with him.\u2019 \u201cWhen the MP had refused to oblige, the UNP leader has resorted to punishing MP Pathirana by suspending his party membership,\u201d the document stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cSexual overtures of the party leader had exposed the party to dire consequences, and parents are reluctant to send their young male children to participate in party activities,\u201d it has been alleged. (Lakbima News<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gayness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being gay is totally fine. Even in Sri Lanka you can be gay, as long as you marry a woman. I think this is horrible (girls I know have married gay guys in arranged marriages and it was predictably terrible and short lived). What I mean is that being homosexual<\/a><\/span> is fine even if it\u2019s not accepted by some cultures. Sexual harassment and assault is not fine in any abstraction.<\/p>\n

Gay Politicians<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Sri Lanka it\u2019s also quite possible to be a gay politician, as I wrote in\u00a0The Leader<\/a>, \u201cIn Sri Lanka sex \u2018scandals\u2019 are simply not discussed. Extra-marital affairs, homosexuality, pre-marital rape, these all get brushed under the rug.\u201d Again, homosexuality is not in the same category as rape or affairs, it just placed there culturally.<\/p>\n

Matara MP Mangala Samaraweera<\/a><\/span> is everything but out. It was commonly said that CBK<\/a><\/span>\u2019s brother Anura Bandaranaike<\/a><\/span> was gay. This didn\u2019t interfere with either of their careers, as it shouldn\u2019t, though for the wrong reasons here. Nobody is out and gay, and nobody does anything about gay rights. It\u2019s just ignored. People joke about it, but no one really cares. Of course, gay men don\u2019t really have sons or found dynasties like Mahinda<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Is Ranil Gay?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ranil being gay is something everybody\u00a0knows<\/em>\u00a0but, of course, nobody really knows. I met him once and he was in a swimming pool full of young men, but maybe they were bodyguards. I don\u2019t care. I dislike him cause he loses elections, his sex life is his business.<\/p>\n

By making it an issue of harassment, however, these dissident UNPers have made it an issue. If this was a woman I\u2019m pretty sure it wouldn\u2019t get play, but now it is. Do I think that he letched on this MP? Honestly, Ranil comes off as more asexual than homosexual. Maybe he did. Maybe it\u2019s just an attack. I\u2019m pretty sure that Ranil is gay, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s a perv. But who knows. Ranil\u2019s not out, but the persistent rumors are now in print.<\/p>\n

This article is first published in November 2011 – \u00a0http:\/\/indi.ca\/<\/a><\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b8MAf-g4Diw<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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