From Ms G. Calleja

I refer to the editorial article that criticised the Xarabank programme (TMIS, 18 March). The programme, in which the Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) participated, dealt with transgender and same sex marriage issues for promoting moral relativism. The article acknowledged that the rights of sexual minorities should not be dependent on the whim of a homophobic and transphobic majority, which constitutes Maltese society, albeit with more positive trends in the younger age groups.

The Malta Gay Rights Movement has now been in existence for over five years and has continuously lobbied for equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. It has worked hard to offer support to LGBT individuals and their families and has increasingly been involved in education and raising awareness among employment advisers, youth groups, school counsellors, and university students among others. It has produced publications and been active in the media through its participation in a range of TV programmes together with letters and articles in the press. It has participated in national as well as European and international conferences and events and also been involved in the consultation process on various National Action Plans. MGRM is also a member of various NGO networks.

Participation in Xarabank is therefore only one of the measures MGRM takes in fulfilling its mission. It is an effective way of bringing such issues to the national consciousness, to challenge the status quo and to give visibility to a group that often goes unrecognised. Every gain made by the LGBT community worldwide for greater equality has been achieved after great struggles. Nothing has been granted freely and only after much debate, opposition and often violence. There are over 80 countries in the world where homosexuality is still considered a crime. In many of these countries violence, torture and imprisonment of LGBT individuals is not uncommon. In many countries, including in the European Union, it is still not possible to conduct a peaceful Pride March. These grave human rights abuses are well documented by such organisations as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

What the portrayal of Jason and Silvan’s wedding showed is that there is no real and significant difference between a heterosexual and homosexual marriage when the homophobic premise that straight is better or more natural than gay is removed from the equation. The feature did what television does – it made visible and comprehensible in a very simple way what words often cannot convey – that love and commitment is not the sole domain of heterosexuals.

A final comment. While Fr Anton Gouder may truly be a very humane person in his day-to-day ministry, on Xarabank he represented the voice of the Catholic Church in Malta. When he implies that homosexuality should still be considered a mental illness, it is a serious matter because it encourages homophobia and the likelihood that LGBT youth will continue to be verbally or physically abused by their Catholic parents, forced to see psychologists in the hope that this would somehow “cure” them of their “condition” or made homeless for not denouncing their LGBT identity.

Gabi Calleja

Malta Gay Rights Movement