What are the implications of this Bill on children and adolescents, both those who are transgender or intersex and those who are not? What do our doctors, sociologists, psychiatrists and educators have to say about it, both those from the LGBTIQ field and those who are not? What implications will it have on our educational system? Once we recognise that there are no longer only boys and girls but that there are six, seven or more genders, will teachers still be allowed to say "boys and girls" in class? How will sex education be taught?

Physician and philosopher Carl Elliott (The Atlantic, 2000), asks whether our cultural and historical conditions have just revealed transsexuals or also created them. "That is, once 'transsexual' and 'gender-identity disorder' and 'sex-reassignment surgery' became common linguistic currency, more people began conceptualizing and interpreting their experience in these terms. This is not to say that there is no biological basis for gender-identity disorder. No. But... that certain social and structural conditions - diagnostic categories, medical clinics, reimbursement schedules, a common language to describe the experience, and, recently, a large body of academic work and transgender activism - have made this way of interpreting an experience not only possible but more likely."

We acknowledge the sensitivity of this Bill and how important it is to ensure non-discrimination, rights of the LGBTIQ community, and support - for example when someone is in the process of accepting one's body with ambiguous genitalia or experiencing social isolation in school. For too long, society has set aside or brushed off these issues with cynicism or humour. However, when such Bills, which touch the deepest core of the human person, are legislated without any discussion, they feel like an imposition on the rest of society. We should strive to move towards an inclusive society where LGBTIQs feel comfortable and happy to be themselves and where straight people who are not only tolerant and also make the gay community welcome but do not fully endorse all their values such as family values, are not afraid to be themselves or speak their minds either.

Suzanne Vella and Martha Fitz

Mothers - Zabbar and Naxxar