Prejudices on Procession

Homophobia is an illness; it is not a basis for legitimate political argument.

by Peter Ratnadurai

(December 05, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Here, we share a few comments on Mangala Samaraweera – a petty poofter pretending to be a witty Oscar Wilde written by H. L. D. Mahindapala and published on the Sri Lanka Guardian on 03 December 2008. (Read)

Mr Mahindapala is a journalist who hails from an island that is divided by various prejudices, and claimed and actual discrimination. Judging by his previous writings, he is, at least on the surface, opposed to "separatism" and fond of "inclusiveness". Pity then that such an individual should so shamelessly parade his homophobic prejudices in an unprecedented attack on an elected member of the Sri Lankan parliament

No two individuals in this world will share ideas and opinions like for like; granted is why mediums exist to promote dialogue and debate. In recent years, Sri Lankan "news" websites have been, unfortunately, morphing into spaces for mudslinging campaigns. Individuals who pen such articles, and editors who publish them without an iota of thought for ethics, are contributing to the degradation of society.

We shan't analyse each and every sentence in Mr Mahindapala's two thousand odd words tirade; for the gist is obvious to anyone who had read the article. Instead, we highlight the use of certain words and clauses, to which we take exception.

Mr Mahindapala uses the terms "poofter" and "faggot" to refer to parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera. The first term, an urbanised form of the English slang "poof", is used nineteen times, including in the title. Both terms are considered highly offensive to homosexual men and are forbidden from use in the general media. Such words are restricted to neo-nazi websites, which I am sure Sri Lanka Guardian is not.

Mr Mahindapala goes onto make allegations to the tune that Mr Samaraweera is a homosexual, a paedophile and a sex pest. The first is an individual's sexual orientation which should not be the basis for political argument. The second two allegations are figments of Mr Mahindapala's imagination; if they were true, Mr Samaraweera would now be behind bars.

The fact is that Mr Samaraweera is a popular politician, elected to represent a constituency. If he is not doing his job properly, he will be voted out at the next elections. If he had not been doing what he was elected to do in previous terms, he would not be in office today.

Mr Samaraweera's constituency boasts several thousand members of the Sri Lankan armed forces; in fact, highest percentage of population of any constituency. Hence, Mr Samaraweera, as a responsible member of parliament, has every right to question the credibility of war reporting and availability of necessary services to the families of serving soldiers and war veterans.

Homophobic prejudices paraded by Mr Mahindapala only highlight his diseased state of mind. Such tirades should be kept in-house or, better still, at a psychiatric hospital, and not published on-line. In the meantime, parliamentarians should be allowed to get on with their job, while the people of their constituency should be the ultimate judges of performance. - Sri Lanka Guardian