Our Mission
Core Values
Credibility and Integrity
We will be honest. We won't make promises we can't keep, and we will keep the promises that we've made. We won’t violate the laws of Sri Lanka nor will we encourage anyone affiliated to us to do so.
Partnership
We seek to assist other individuals and organisations that share our common vision.
Creativity and Ingenuity
We will endeavour to find creative, yet effective and efficient ways of spreading the message that equality is for everyone.
Transparency
We will not withhold information about our activities or finances from our donors. If we make a mistake, we will own up to it and find a way to correct it.
Information and Competence
We will become experts in our field. We will gain an increasing body of knowledge and expertise to be used, together with our other values, to see our vision become reality.
Attitude
We will respect and honour others in the way that we treat them. We will practice what we preach.
Confidentiality
We will not disclose personal or institutional information without the explicit consent of the owners of such information.
Our Logo
The EQUAL GROUND logo comprises of the organisation name in upper case with an inverted pink triangle replacing the letter ‘A’.
The inverted pink triangle originated in Nazi concentration camps during World War II where men convicted of ‘sexual deviance’ which, included homosexuality were forced to wear a pink triangle. The icon was reclaimed in the post-Stonewall gay rights movement as a symbol of empowerment, and, by some, a symbol of remembrance.
The uninterrupted, horizontal, pink line running through the organisation name represents a level playing field in all circumstances, for all individuals regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression/characteristics.
Our Operating Environment
Sri Lankan society is structured on strict gender roles and responsibilities, where anything different to heteronormative and binary gender standards is considered abnormal, deviant and deserving of punishment/discrimination.
As a result of our colonial past, same sex sexual relationships between consenting adults is deemed a criminal act punishable with up to 10 years in prison. As a result, social stigmas are attached to homosexuality and transgenderism. This stigma is heavily institutionalised resulting in the discrimination and marginalization of members of the LGBTIQ community and those perceived as members of the LGBTIQ community.
Due to the lack of understanding of gender identity and sexual orientation and misinterpreted religious/cultural doctrine, LGBTIQ persons are often forced into heterosexual marriages, subject to curative rape, or face violence within the confines of their homes and in public.
Individuals who are thus mistreated are denied access to justice and medical attention because they fear the repercussions of their ‘different’ sexual orientation or gender identity becoming public knowledge and also because the instances of further abuse at the hands of the authorities is a probable threat.