<p>Colombo: Chanu Nimesha is contesting Sri Lanka's parliamentary election on Thursday as the first openly transgender candidate, hoping to forge a more inclusive and tolerant political culture on the South Asian island.</p><p>Transgender people are estimated to make up about 1 per cent of Sri Lanka's 22 million people, according to Equal Ground, a local civil society group. They frequently face social rejection, lack legal protection and have almost no representation in political parties.</p><p>Nimesha, who is contesting from Kegalle - about 80km (50 miles) east of Colombo - said she was the first transgender person to run for a seat in the 225-strong Parliament and that her message of social justice had been well received.</p>.Initiate diplomatic efforts with Sri Lanka, prevent arrests of TN fishermen, Stalin tells Centre.<p>"I'm not concerned about winning or losing," she said, sitting in her one-bedroom flat. "But it is important for me to be present in this space, to be seen, to inspire others like me. I want to help everyone, not just my community."</p><p>The 49-year-old, is contesting for the Socialist Party of Sri Lanka and one of about 8,000 candidates in the poll, which comes less than two months after Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake won September's presidential election.</p>.Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolves parliament.<p>High debt, shortsighted economic policies and tourism revenue losses from the Covid-19 pandemic plunged Sri Lanka into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades in 2022.</p><p>Nimesha was one of thousands who marched in Colombo that year to occupy then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office and residence, forcing him to flee the country and later resign.</p><p>Supported by a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, Sri Lanka has made a tentative recovery but a quarter of the population remains in poverty.</p><p>Nimesha raises funds for her activism and political campaign by working as a quantity surveyor at a nearby construction site. She is also an amateur actress, composes music and has written a book set to be published in the next two months.</p><p>Born in the southern town of Galle, Nimesha was 14 when her father was killed in a political insurgency in 1989. She eventually moved to Colombo and is no longer in touch with her conservative family.</p><p>"I understand their decision to cut ties with me," she said, her make-up lined up neatly on a table next to a bookcase filled with books on socialist and leftist ideology. A guitar lies on the bed nearby.</p><p>"This is why I'm so passionate about the need for inclusiveness. We need to see the humanity in each other and accept each other. Only then can we build a society where we all belong.</p>
<p>Colombo: Chanu Nimesha is contesting Sri Lanka's parliamentary election on Thursday as the first openly transgender candidate, hoping to forge a more inclusive and tolerant political culture on the South Asian island.</p><p>Transgender people are estimated to make up about 1 per cent of Sri Lanka's 22 million people, according to Equal Ground, a local civil society group. They frequently face social rejection, lack legal protection and have almost no representation in political parties.</p><p>Nimesha, who is contesting from Kegalle - about 80km (50 miles) east of Colombo - said she was the first transgender person to run for a seat in the 225-strong Parliament and that her message of social justice had been well received.</p>.Initiate diplomatic efforts with Sri Lanka, prevent arrests of TN fishermen, Stalin tells Centre.<p>"I'm not concerned about winning or losing," she said, sitting in her one-bedroom flat. "But it is important for me to be present in this space, to be seen, to inspire others like me. I want to help everyone, not just my community."</p><p>The 49-year-old, is contesting for the Socialist Party of Sri Lanka and one of about 8,000 candidates in the poll, which comes less than two months after Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake won September's presidential election.</p>.Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolves parliament.<p>High debt, shortsighted economic policies and tourism revenue losses from the Covid-19 pandemic plunged Sri Lanka into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades in 2022.</p><p>Nimesha was one of thousands who marched in Colombo that year to occupy then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office and residence, forcing him to flee the country and later resign.</p><p>Supported by a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, Sri Lanka has made a tentative recovery but a quarter of the population remains in poverty.</p><p>Nimesha raises funds for her activism and political campaign by working as a quantity surveyor at a nearby construction site. She is also an amateur actress, composes music and has written a book set to be published in the next two months.</p><p>Born in the southern town of Galle, Nimesha was 14 when her father was killed in a political insurgency in 1989. She eventually moved to Colombo and is no longer in touch with her conservative family.</p><p>"I understand their decision to cut ties with me," she said, her make-up lined up neatly on a table next to a bookcase filled with books on socialist and leftist ideology. A guitar lies on the bed nearby.</p><p>"This is why I'm so passionate about the need for inclusiveness. We need to see the humanity in each other and accept each other. Only then can we build a society where we all belong.</p>