Sherman de Rose

Sherman de Rose is a Sri Lankan LGBT activist. He grew up in Kotahena. As a young person, he wanted to join the Catholic church and studied in Ireland, but he left the church after realizing he was gay. Then, he set up Companions on a Journey, Sri Lanka's first gay rights group, in 1994.

Early life

Sherman de Rose grew up in Kotahena, a suburb of Colombo with six siblings. He was connected to the local Catholic St. Lucia's Cathedral and wanted to become a priest. At the age of 17, he went to the Poornawatte Seminary near Kandy and after a few months had the opportunity to study in Ireland. Between 1989 and 1992 he studied theology and philosophy.

Career

Sherman de Rose set up Companions on a Journey in 1995, provoking a controversy since it was Sri Lanka's first gay rights group. He received death threats and was forced to go abroad for a time until things had settled down again.[1][2]

De Rose helped to set up ACCESS (AIDS Coalition for Care, Education and Support Services), becoming its treasurer and convenor in 1997.[3] In 1999, de Rose made a complaint about a letter to a newspaper which advocated violence against lesbians. The Sri Lanka Press Council refused to hear the complaint and fined de Rose 2100 rupees.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Sri Lanka's gays share their journey". BBC News. 20 May 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  2. Samath, Feizal (27 July 2009). "RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Gay Community Takes Heart in Indian Court Ruling | Inter Press Service". IPS News. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  3. Pattuwa, Giruwa (2006). A life in the round: Desamanya Kamalika, the girl from Giruwa Pattuwa. WHT Publications. p. 143. ISBN 9789559114352.
  4. Prateek (1 April 2014). "Naturalizing 'Queerness': A Study of Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy". Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. 6 (1): 158. ISSN 0975-2935.
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