UPDATED Joint Statement: MGRM & aditus on Council of Europe Resolution on Trans Rights

The MGRM and aditus foundation welcome the adoption by the Council of Europe of a comprehensive resolution on the human rights of trans persons. The Assembly calls upon Member States to respect, protect and fulfil the right of trans persons not to be discriminated against and to facilitate quick, transparent and accessible legal gender recognition based on self-determination. It also asks for member states to provide information and raise awareness particularly among professionals in the education, health and psycho-social fields.

We commend the work conducted by Deborah Schembri as rapporteur for the committee on equality and non-discrimination in raising awareness on the issues trans people face across Council of Europe member states. We also thank Minister for Civil Liberties Helena Dalli for her intervention leading up to the debate in the parliamentary assembly.

“The Resolution is the most important and wide-ranging statement of support for the rights of transgender persons ever made at European level.” Explains Richard Köhler, TGEU Senior Policy Officer.

Through the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act Malta is at the forefront of trans rights and we are glad to note that the Maltese Government is also advocating for trans rights Internationally. We applauded the unanimous support of the Act on the 1st of April and we recognise the efforts made by FOIPN’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Sub-Committee within the PN Party structure.

We are however disappointed that Beppe Fenech Adami voted against the Council of Europe Report and Resolution last Wednesday while Charlo Bonnici seems to not have been present for the vote. Deborah Schembri and Joseph Debono Grech voted in support of the resolution. In this regard, we urge the Opposition to ensure full reflection of their recent position on the GIGESC Act in all national, regional and international fora.

UPDATE (23 April, 16.27)

MGRM and aditus foundation would like to note that Charlo Bonnici acts as a replacement for Beppe Fenech Adami and is only entitled to vote in his absence. We therefore withdraw the previous press statement and submit a revised version.

We also acknowledge and welcome Beppe Fenech Adami’s claim that he voted against amendments that went against the resolution and in favour of an amendment put forward by Deborah Schembri and that to his knowledge, he voted in favour of the resolution in the final vote and that he has communicated with the Council of Europe Secretariat to rectify the No vote registered on the Council of Europe website.


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Our Director awarded for his LGBTI rights work!

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Last night Neil (Director) was honored with an award for his work in the area of promotion of the rights of LGBTI persons. The Malta Gay Rights Movement organized Malta’s first LGBTI Community Awards, recognizing the commitment of various personalities and professionals towards supporting LGBTI rights.

Neil was awarded the Human Rights award category, with mention of his work in protecting the most vulnerable members of society, including refugees.

Background news can be read here.

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aditus’ training on LGBTI Asylum issues

On 26th September we gave the training to a number of NGOs working in LGBTI issues, on the transposition of EU’s Asylum and Victim’s Rights Directives, as a part of aditus’ Stakeholder Information Sessions project.

During the first part of the training, Neil (our Director) provided basic information on the asylum Directives and explained how they can be applied to LGBTI asylum-seekers.  The Directives identify the standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection.  For a better understanding of different legal statuses, Neil clarified the distinction between a refugee, asylum-seeker and any other migrant.  Together with the representatives from LGBTI-supporting organisations we discussed the criteria and the process of recognition of refugees, which do consider sexual orientation and gender identity as a basis to recognise international protection needs, particularly under the ‘recast’ (new) EU Directives.

In the second part of the training we focused on the Victims’ Rights Directive, which seeks to promote the principle of non-discrimination and sets out minimum rights for victims in criminal proceedings that take place in the EU.  Neil explained the issues of victims’ support and protection from an LGBTI perspective and highlighted the importance of training for police services, officials and lawyers to support them in dealing with LGBTI victims in a respectful, sensitive, professional and non-discriminatory manner.

We all agreed that the proper transposition of the Directives into Maltese legislation is necessary and we will be monitoring the implementation process through advocacy and capacity-building activities.

Big thanks to the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties for offering its premises for the training.


‘Malta’s IVF law reinforces inequalities’ – Joint press statement with Malta Gay Rights Movement

The ‘Embryo Protection Act’ is an unashamedly homophobic law insofar as it denies access to medical services purely on the basis of sexual orientation.  It is also a violation of human dignity by introducing unreasonable and unwarranted intrusions into physical integrity, in its criminalization of egg or sperm donation.

aditus foundation and Malta Gay Rights Movement take the opportunity of yesterday’s opening of the tendering process for IVF services to reiterate MGRM’s earlier criticism of the IVF law (available here).

Under the IVF law, medically assisted procreation is only open to “prospective parents”, defined in a discriminatory manner as “two persons of the opposite sex who are united in marriage, or…who are in a stable relationship with each other.”  In practice, this means that same-sex couples will be automatically denied access to medical services on the basis of their sexual orientation.

Furthermore, the Act imposes severe criminal sanctions against any person who donates his sperm or her eggs outside of the IVF law framework.  aditus foundation and MGRM question the relationship between embryo protection and the fundamental rights of all persons to be protected from violations of their physical and mental integrity, and to decide on core matters such as their private and family lives.

“We question the compliance of Malta’s IVF law with human rights law, since it seems to ignore legislation and jurisprudence unequivocally stating that all rights and obligations accessible by different-sex couples should be equally accessible and enjoyable by same-sex couples.” Gabi Calleja, MGRM Coordinator.

“We fail to understand why the government is concerned with what men do with their own sperm, and what women do with their own eggs.  As long as no third parties are negatively affected, these are decisions for individuals to take, and not for the state to criminalise.”  Dr. Neil Falzon, aditus foundation Director.

aditus foundation and MGRM strongly urge the competent authorities to truly respect, protect and fulfil the rights of all persons irrespective of their sexual orientation and to embrace a more realistic, understanding and indiscriminate notion of ‘family’.  In particular, the two organisations urge a thorough revision of the Embryo Protection Act to remove all discriminatory provisions and to bring it in line with human rights standards.

Download the statement here.

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Our IDAHO message with Malta Gay Rights Movement

The ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map (Index)1 for 2013 as well as the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) survey report clearly indicate that Malta has a long way to go before it can claim to provide equal rights and a safe environment for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens.

The ILGA-Europe Map provides an overview and comparison of the legal situation of the 47 Council of Europe member states based on legislation in the fields of equality and non-discrimination, family, bias motivated speech and violence, legal gender recognition, freedom of assembly, association and expression and asylum. The Map places Malta somewhere in the middle with a score of 35% where the highest, the UK scored 77% and the lowest, 7% was scored by Russia.

Malta’s position could shift drastically by this time next year should the government’s plans to introduce comprehensive Civil Union legislation at par with marriage and a new Gender Identity Bill translate to legal realities.

The FRA report sheds light on the social and human rights’ situation of LGBT people in the EU. Over half (51%) of Maltese respondents, just slightly above the EU average of 47% reported feeling discriminated against or harassed in the last 12 months on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Despite anti-discrimination legislation in employment 22% of Maltese respondents reported feeling discriminated against in the last 12 months when looking for a job and/or at work because of being LGBT. Clearly more needs to be done to raise awareness among the LGBT community about their rights, to encourage victims of discrimination to come forward, and to monitor and train employers to ensure the effectiveness of anti-discrimination legislation in this field.

35% of Maltese respondents reported feeling discriminated against in the last 12 months in areas other than employment because of being LGBT. This highlights the need for the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation outside the field of employment.

In the field of education, 91% of Maltese respondents reported having heard negative comments or having seen negative conduct because a schoolmate was perceived to be LGBT during their schooling before the age of 18. It is therefore not surprising that 63% of Maltese respondents “always” or “often” hid or disguised being LGBT during their schooling before the age of 18. The current discussions with the Ministry for Education and Employment and the Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties to address LGBT issues in schools from an early age are therefore a welcome initiative.

Only 2% of Maltese respondents held that same-sex couples holding hands in public is very widespread compared to 82% for heterosexual couples. This indicates that same-sex couples continue to remain invisible and points towards a perception among the LGBT community that being out in public spaces continues to pose a risk of violence or harassment.

Gabi Calleja (MGRM) stated: ‘IDAHO is an opportunity to celebrate diversity and to raise awareness of the difficulties that the LGBT community continues to face in their day-to-day lives. I am hopeful that the political leadership being shown will lead to a significant step forward towards equality and respect of human rights.’

Neil Falzon (aditus foundation) further added: ‘IDAHO is the day we stress the importance of public attitudes and perceptions to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.  The equal dignity of all human beings is not merely a principle that needs to be written in our laws, but a core value we must all actively uphold in our relations with everyone: friends, family members, neighbours, colleagues, and everyone else.’

1.ILGA-Europe is the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association. The Rainbow Map can be accessed at: http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/publications/reports_and_other_materials/rainbow_europe