Proposals in a report on gay rights, including civil partnership and adoption, have been forwarded to the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry by MP Beppe Fenech Adami.

Dr Fenech Adami was present at a Social Affairs Committee meeting on Tuesday when four members of the Malta Gay Rights Movement presented a 2008 report detailing the situation of homosexual and transsexual people in Malta.

One of the main issues raised during the meeting was of children being brought up by homosexual couples and the lack of rights and recognition for the latter.

A spokesman for the ministry cited the President's speech at the beginning of the Legislature, where he had said the government had to give "the highest importance to the health, development and protection of children, ideally in a stable and strong family based on marriage".

The ministry said it was committed to follow what was going on in the committee so that eventual legal amendments that had to be made could address unalienable realities in today's society.

It reiterated its commitment towards legislation for relationships that were not based on marriage.