A 17-year-old high school student is boldly taking on her elite private school after it punished her for bringing a rainbow flag to school.

Saakya Rajawasan attends the prestigious Colombo International School (CIS) in Sri Lanka. The teenager who identifies as bisexual and gender fluid wanted to wear a rainbow flag cape to the school’s annual fashion show.

‘This September CIS had its fashion show, a very important event, especially for graduating seniors. I wanted to wear a rainbow cape as a symbol of pride and solidarity,’ she said.

But the school told her people might be offended by the rainbow flag. It also told her that it could not endorse a political statement. Willing to come to a compromise, Saakya came back to school with multi-coloured tie dye cape which was ‘obviously not a political symbol and would have offended no one’.

According to Saakya the school rejected all her compromises and eventually banned her from walking in the fashion show.

Detention, demerits and suspension

Having been banned from the fashion show, Saakya draped the rainbow cape over her bag. The head of the sixth form and then eventually the assistant principal came over multiple times to tell her to put it out of sight in her bag.

She refused.

‘It was important for me to show the rainbow cape as it represents my identity and it shows other students especially ones from the LGBTQ+ community that they are not alone,’ Saakya told Gay Star News.

‘It was my way of reaching out to others and normalizing members of the LGBTQ+ community.’

But her act of allyship cost her. The usually top-ranking student was given detentions, house demerit points and eventually banned from all extra curricular activities.

CIS hand delivered a letter to her father citing ‘her unacceptable and irresponsible behavior’.

Security even stopped her as she tried to deliver food to a stall during a school carnival on 29 September. They escorted her of the premises which felt ‘dehumanizing’.

Her ongoing defiance has caused the school to threaten her with suspension, despite her strong academic record.

‘I choose to stand up to school and think it’s very necessary because it’s in my nature to do so,’ Saakya said.

‘When something is not right it must be called out, otherwise the world won’t change for the better.

‘In addition I can stand up for what I believe in with ease, especially since I’m in a position of privilege where I have a supportive father who will help when needed. So if I don’t do something who will?’

Not her first stand

Saakya argued that CIS had a responsibility to help students proper in their post- high school lives.

‘Pretending that various sexual identities and orientations do not exist does not serve students who will invariably be forced to confront these realities in foreign contexts,’ she said.

It’s not the first time Saakya has stood up for her rights and it’s not the first time her activism has cost.

She fought for more than a year for the right to wear trousers as part of her uniform, rather than a skirt.

‘At that time I asked for permission to wear trousers instead of the girls’ uniform. I identify as bi-sexual and gender-fluid so wearing trousers is a way of expressing myself,’ she said.

Eventually CIS yielded to her requests but when it came time to make her a prefect, the school said she could only take on the top job if she switched back to wearing a skirt.

Many of her peers and teachers support her, but some of the teachers have told her to save her activism until she gets to university.

‘I believe that the time was yesterday and the place is everywhere to be an activist. I must be active here to change Sri Lanka for the better,’ Saakya said.

‘Furthermore why should I wait to come out? I already know who I am and what I identify as.’

Proud parents

The 17-year-old acknowledged that her father’s unwavering support has helped her achieve good grades.

‘Closeted people spend so much of their time and energy building a lie that they often cannot achieve their full potential,’ Saakya said.

Dinesh Rajawasan, was one of the initial adopters of CIS and supports his daughter ‘100%’.

‘It has been very obvious to me for a long time that she is not what you would call hetero normative,’ Rajawasan told Gay Star News.

‘So when you can clearly see what she is why wouldn’t you (support her)? Her identity is important.’

Rajawasan has tried to empower his daughter to stand up for herself at school rather than go ‘frothing at the mouth to represent my child’.

‘I have empowered her to take them on. It is quite enjoyable to watch a 17-year-old child take on the patriarchy.’

Saakya’s dad is so impressed with her activism that he framed the letter of complaint the school sent him

‘When I got the letter, I actually burst out laughing, was it really 2018? I could believe the stupidity of it,’ he said.

‘Trousers mentioned; indicating kindness was at their discretion. Then to actually mention the rainbow flag by name, call it a controversial symbol, don’t admit to your bigotry in writing. This is why I framed and hung it in my house labelled -the patriarchy’s willing executioners.’

Sri Lanka

The south Asian country still bans homosexual sex under an old British colonial law. LGBTI people are also not protected under anti-discrimination and trans people regularly face violence in the country.

But it is making small steps towards progress, with the annual Colombo Pride celebrated in the streets for the first time last year.

Gay Star News has reached out to the Colombo International School for comment.

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