Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera (21 April 1956 – 24 August 2021; , ; ) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the first openly gay politician from Sri Lanka. He was the Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2019, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, for two terms from 2005 to 2007 and 2015 to 2017. He created a stir in Sri Lankan politics when he was sacked as a minister by President Mahinda Rajapakse in 2007, after which he formed a new political party called the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Mahajana) Wing, which later merged with the United National Party in 2010. Samaraweera served as a politician for over 30 years in his career until his retirement from politics in 2020. During his tenure as a politician, he was an advocate of liberalism and radical centrism opposing militarisation, as well as ethnic and religious polarisation. He also advocated for LGBT rights in Sri Lanka, despite Sri Lanka having not legalised LGBT rights. Early life and education Mangala Samaraweera was born on 21 April 1956 in Matara, Sri Lanka, the son of Mahanama Samaraweera and Khema Padmawathi Samaraweera née Amaraweera, his father was a cabinet Minister of Local Government, Housing, Communications, Posts and Telecommunications in Sirimavo Bandaranaike's government and his mother served as a member of the Matara Urban Council. Educated at Royal College, Colombo and at Waltham Forest College, London, he gained a BA in Clothing Design and Technology from St. Martin's School of Art in London, he served as a design consultant to the National Design Center of Sri Lanka and served as a visiting lecturer in the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya. It was veteran textile designer Chandra Thneuwera who invited him to join her at the Institute of Aesthetic Studies while he was working as a consultant for the Ministry of Textile Industries under the guidance of Wijayapala Mendis. Political career Samaraweera entered politics from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party as its chief organiser in Matara in 1983. He was introduced as Khema's boy when he was appointed as SLFP's chief organiser. He later became the SLFP party's Assistant Secretary and Coordinating Secretary of the Mother's Front. He also served as human rights campaigner in the 1980s during when Ranasinghe Premadasa was the President of Sri Lanka. He first entered the Parliament of Sri Lanka as a representative of the Matara District in 1989, and