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Malta: Gay Activists Appeal for Marriage Equality

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

In a report which aims to highlight the injustice created by the current scenario and appeal for marriage equality, the Malta Gay Rights Movement is appealing for same-sex couples to be allowed to marry civilly.

The aim of the position paper on marriage equality, which was launched yesterday, is to provide input to a national discussion on the recognition of marriage equality in Malta and ultimately that civil marriage is permitted, as for different-sex couples.

As it is, just three EU member states lag behind Malta in the Rainbow Europe Country Index, which rates each country’s laws and administrative practices which protect or violate the human rights of LGBT people, based on 16 different categories.

Full Story from The Malta Independent

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Tags: Gay Marriage, malta, marriage equality

Malta’s Nationalist Party Considers Recognition of Gay Relationships

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Malta’s Nationalist Party, which holds a political majority in the country, has expressed a desire for some form of legal recognition for gay couples. Currently, the state does not recognise relationships between two people of the same gender.

The central Mediterranean group of islands which makes up the country has a strong Catholic ethos, only legalising divorce by referendum this summer.

The Times of Malta reports that at the opening of the General Council, the party’s General Secretary said the country could not be “blind” to gay relationships.

Full Story from Pink News

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Tags: civil unions, gay relationships, malta, marriage equality

Malta: Four Politicians Argue for Marriage Equality

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Four politicians, three of whom are MPs, argued in favour of civil unions for gay and lesbian people yesterday, and among other things, they raised the issue of gay adoption, with Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando asking: “What’s the issue all about, as long as the parents are responsible people?”

Dr Pullicino Orlando, together with Nationalist MP Karl Gouder, Labour MP Owen Bonnici and Sliema deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer, were participating in a debate on campus organised by student organisation Move, following a presentation of the results of a survey among university students carried out during Freshers’ Week. A random sample of 704 university students was collected, with a 95% confidence level and a 3.56% confidence interval. The survey was conducted by BDC Ltd for Move – Progressive Students.

The results show that 56.5% of university students are in favour of the recognition of same-sex marriages, while 32% are against, but the majority of students are against same-sex couples being given the opportunity to adopt a child (51%). A total of 30% of the participants are in favour, and 18% are still undecided. Compared to last year’s statistics, this represents an increase of 6.6% in favour of gay adoption.

Full Story from the Malta Independent

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Tags: adoption, Gay Marriage, malta, marriage equality

Malta: Law Creates Headaches for BiNational Gay Couples

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

The rights of the gay community in Malta have been left in disarray after EU intervention saw a restriction on migration struck from the law books.

The central Mediterranean group of islands which makes up the country has a strong Catholic ethos, which means gay couples have little in the way of governmental recognition.

Until this year, non-recognition of gay relationships was applied equally to Maltese citizens and to foreign nationals: those in other member states of the EU and in non-EU, third countries across the world.

Full Story from Pink News

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Tags: binational, gay couples, immigration, malta

Malta: Legislation Proposed to Simplify Sex Change Registration

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Labour MP Evarist Bartolo is to present a Private Member’s Bill that would make it easier for trans-gender people to change the gender annotation on their official documents, without having to undergo a lengthy and intrusive court process.

The draft Bill was prepared by the Malta Gay Rights Movement and announced this morning by its president, Gaby Calleja. The Gender Identity Act, as the draft bill has been called, aimed to minimise the legal problems which trans-gender people have, Ms Calleja said.

At present, anyone who wishes to change the gender shown on his birth certificate must file an application in court. Such persons must be single.

Full Story from The Times of Malta

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Tags: legislation, malta, sex change, simplify, transgender

Malta: Government Working on “Co-Habitation” Law?

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

As Members of the European Parliament called for more rights for same-sex couples in Europe, gay rights activist Patrick Attard is uncertain about the proposed cohabitation law, which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said will be enacted by the end of the year.

…

Patrick Attard has come up with a set of proposals for legislation that would provide for civil partnerships between same-sex couples. The law, explains Dr. Attard, should include basic rights such as: hospital visitation rights in case of accident or serious illness of the partner, the right for one partner to take a medical decision in case the other partner is unable to do so, the right to take urgent family leave from work to take care of one’s sick partner, the right to organise the funeral in case of death, the right to take bereavement leave from work to mourn one’s partner.

Last May, Dr. Gonzi said the government is working on a draft law on cohabitation, which it plans to enact by the end of the year. Dr. Attard said: “I think this a very important first step, but quite unrealistic considering that the prime minister, deputy prime minister and the highest people in government seem to despise gay people. We have been promised a law on cohabitation for over 12 years now, so I don’t believe anything concrete will happen now.”

Full Story from the Malta Independent

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Tags: co-habitation law, Gay Marriage, malta, marriage equality, same sex marriage

Malta: Debate Raging Over Divorce, Marriage Equality

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

A heated debate is ongoing in Malta for legislation that will forward legalization of divorce and same sex marriage, The Malta Independent says. The issue of divorce arose when Labor party leader Joseph Muscat said that if he is elected prime minister in 2013, he will push for a bill that will propose its legalization, the Guardian said.

MP Adrian Vassallo of the Malta Labor Party, however, said that he would oppose any bill that would legalize divorce in Malta, the Guardian said. Only Malta, the Philippines and the Vatican City have not, to date, legalized divorce, the Independent said.

Chapter 1 article 2 of Malta’s constitution states, “The authorities of the Roman Catholic apostolic church have the duty and the right to teach which principles are right and which are wrong,” the Guardian says.

Full Story from The Underground

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Tags: divorce, Gay Marriage, malta, marriage equality, same sex marriage

Malta: Muslims, Catholics Join to Bar Gays From Marriage

Friday, June 25th, 2010

The views on marriage and sexuality expressed by the Catholic and Muslim leaders in Malta during a conference yesterday suggested a ‘marriage of convenience’ between the country’s two largest religious denominations to propagate inherently flawed beliefs, the Malta Humanist Association and the Malta Gay Rights Movement said in a joint statement.

The MHA and the MGRM said they were all in favour of inter-cultural dialogue, but from a humanist perspective, it was alarming that such influential institutions should use their combined strength to prevent couples of the same gender from marrying, simply because of an ancient myth about a man, a woman and a talking snake.

They said that quotes attributed to Arbishop Paul Cremona and Ammar Hreba, the head of the Islamic Centres and Propagation Bureau, suggested that the local Catholic and Muslim community leaders inclined towards a literal interpretation of the creation myth from their respective scriptures.

Full Story from the Times of Malta

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Tags: alliance, catholic church, Gay Marriage, islam, malta, marriage equality, muslims, same sex marriage

Malta: Parliament Committee Talks About Gay Rights

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

What happens in the bedroom is, up to a point, the government’s business, because it often had to solve problems caused there, the chairman of the House Social Affairs Committee, Edwin Vassallo said.

Speaking during a sitting on Tuesday where the Malta Gay Rights Movement gave a presentation to the committee on the situation of homosexuals and transgender individuals in Malta, Mr Vassallo said: “What we’re learning in this committee is that what happens in the bedroom often ends up before the state to do something about it.” As examples, he cited single parents and teenage pregnancies.

The MGRM’s Gabi Calleja presented to the committee a 2008 report detailing problems gay people faced in Malta. One of the major topics was the issue of homosexual couples and children. Even though Malta did not allow adoption by gay couples, Ms Calleja said “we’re creative and still find a way to have children”. These methods included surrogacy, artificial insemination and IVF and also intercourse with a member of the opposite sex.

Full Story from the Times of Malta

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Tags: gay adoption, Gay Marriage, gay rights, lesbian rights, malta, marriage equality, parliament, same sex marriage

Malta: Party Selects First Openly Gay MP

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

The Nationalist Party’s executive committee yesterday elected the first openly gay MP to Parliament to replace Michael Frendo, who was appointed Speaker to replace Louis Galea, who in turn took up a post with the European Court of Auditors.

Karl Gouder, 31, from St Julian’s, told MaltaToday he was looking forward to the challenge of being the youngest MP on the government side, whilst also thanking his family and friends who assisted him in his campaign for the 2008 general election.

Asked what would his stance be with regards to gay rights and co-habitation, Gouder said he would adopt a ‘wait and see’ stance for the time being.

Full Story from Malta Today

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Tags: elected, malta, member of parliament, openly gay mp