Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella believes in the rights awarded to the LGBTI community through the introduction of civil unions, however disagrees with the introduction of gay marriage.
“I am for civil unions but I do not agree with gay marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman. I agree with civil union because they [LGBTI] deserve the same rights as everybody else. The fact that their rights are recognised by law, in an institutionalised way, is important,” said Minister Vella.
His comments come after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat declared that it is time for a discussion on the introduction of gay marriage, despite the fact that Civil Unions introduced in 2014 have been universally accepted as gay marriage in all but name. The Prime Minister brought up the issue in the midst of one of the biggest scandals his government has been embroiled in, involving Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri.
Both were found to own companies registered in Panama, owned by trusts registered in New Zealand. Panama has been labelled as a ‘non-cooperative tax jurisdiction,’ meaning that its lack of financial regulation and heavy secrecy make the country a perfect place for money laundering and tax evasion.
Government Whip Godfrey Farrugia declined to say whether the issue of gay marriage was discussed within the Parliamentary Group before Dr Muscat’s declaration. Turning to whether he is for or against the issue, Dr Farrugia said: “Personally, I still have to study the issue. In my mind I have three main priorities. Firstly I am focusing on the Parliamentary debate about the age of sexual consent. I have opened a committee of family parenting, another social issue. Lastly, we are tackling the organ donation discussion, another positive important issue.”
Turning back to the issue introduction of gay marriage, Dr Farrugia said that has “not given it enough meaningful thought.” “I will state what I think when after the appropriate discussions,” he said.
This newsroom also contacted a number of traditionally conservative Nationalist Party politicians to gauge their opinion on the issue.
A change in name to reflect reality
Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil publically expressed his support for introducing gay marriage, stating that he would support the “change of name to marriage, since the civil unions legislation already gives couples the same rights and duties as those invoked by civil marriages.”
The PN has been linked with conservative policies numerous times in the past, having objected to the introduction of divorce and abstained from voting on the civil union bill. Since then, the party has attempted to make strides with regard to civil liberties, such as its support of a government bill which seeks to outlaw conversion therapy – a practice which attempts to repress or change a person’s sexual orientation. Traditionally this is done to ‘convert’ homosexuals into heterosexuals.
Shadow Minister for Justice Jason Azzopardi vehemently declined to comment, stating that there are more important issues at hand, and that the appropriate discussions still need to take place.
PN MP Claudio Grech also declined to comment, saying that “we [the PN] have no comments to make for now. We still have to discuss it in the group.”
More MPs from both sides of the House were contacted for comments, however they could either not be reached or did not send in replies by the time of going to print.
Gabi Calleja from the Malta Gay Rights Movement, and Neil Falzon from Auditus, a rights based NGO, said that while both mainstream party leaders have expressed their support to introduce gay marriage, it is time for rhetoric to become action. They both said that if the LGBTI community isn’t being used as a political football, then it is time for these words to translate into legislation.