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.

Sri Lanka ’s first openly transgender parliamentary candidate aims to foster a more inclusive political culture. Chanu Nimesha, 49, a member of the Socialist Party of Sri Lanka, is contesting from the Kegalle constituency and is focusing her campaign on social justice issues.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has drawn strong support from an unlikely source as he seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

We urge workers, students, youth and rural poor to vote for the SEP in this election to express their support for our international socialist perspective and on that basis prepare for the class struggles ahead.

Nimesha was one of thousands who marched in Colombo that year to occupy then President ... Transgender people are estimated to make up about 1% of Sri Lanka's 22 million people, according to Equal Ground, a local civil society group.

Sri Lanka will vote in a snap general election on Thursday, called by new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to secure a majority in parliament to back his policies in the island nation struggling to recover from a crushing financial crisis.