The recent announcement that one of the most outstanding inconsistencies in Malta’s civil, or indeed human, rights legislation – the utter lack of protection for its citizens against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation – is to be addressed was a most welcome piece of news.

It is now time to put the fine words uttered that day into action, and without delay because lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people have been made to wait too long to be accorded the full rights at law that they deserve as human beings and citizens of this country.

That news, close to two weeks old now, has not yet been followed up with concrete action by the government. In fact, what was really said that day was that the justice minister would continue making the necessary legislative changes that had been started by his predecessor.

But what form those amendments will be in the end still remains to be seen, as well as how far they will reach and whether they will constitute more than mere token legal amendments.

That is because, so far, the announcement cannot be judged to have been more than a knee-jerk reaction to two separate incidents – that in Hamrun and the other on a public bus – and the ensuing clarion call to the country to do something about discrimination in all its forms.

But we have unfortunately heard very little about the kind of amendments being proposed. In the meantime, one needs to ask why it has and is still taking the country so long to legislate in favour of basic rights for homosexuals.

The truth of the matter is that Malta’s track record when it comes to according rights, any rights, to homosexuals – including the right to not be beaten because of your sexual orientation – is pretty lousy and there is huge room for improvement.

It was the Prime Minister who, when announcing the hate crimes law revision to include sexual orientation, cited the laws of the country as being a reflection of its values. But so far the people’s values in this respect are not reflected in the law.

In fact, the vast majority of people in this country are not bigots, are not homophobic and they hold their own personal freedoms and those of others dear – but their laws have failed to reflect those values, and their parliamentarians have also failed to correct this gross injustice faced on so many levels by so many within our society.

Just as divorce was a civil right that has now rightly been accorded to a minority of the population, the civil rights, or, rather, the complete lack thereof, accorded to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) people must now be thoroughly addressed. By not having legislation in place to protect and provide rights for this minority, it is the state itself that is practising discrimination.

And although homosexuality, along with adultery, was decriminalised in Malta in the 1970s, the country’s legal structures themselves are still unquestionably discriminatory towards homosexuals.

LGBT couples to this day enjoy no recognition or rights in any way shape or form – in terms of succession rights, cohabitation rights, death bed rights and in so many other areas – and it is only now that political parties are discussing introducing some form of LGBT rights. And although positive, those discussions need to be significantly widened.

Last June, Malta signed on to the United Nations’ landmark resolution that for the first time endorsed the rights of LGBT people, which expressed “grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity”.

Malta signed on that day, and now it is time to begin putting those words into action. Homophobia, hate crimes and discrimination in all its ugly, malicious forms – violent and non-violent – can only be stamped out when, first and foremost, the correct laws are put in place.

Knee-jerk reaction or not, the Prime Minister’s order to speed up the process of correcting the law as it stands is extremely positive. Let that process be hastened and concluded without further delay.

As matters currently stand, the country’s lack of protection against discrimination for LGBT people remains one of the most outstanding blights on the country’s Western, and democratic, credentials.