The two major political parties feel pastor Gordon Manché, who presented a 10,000-signature petition to MPs against the Civil Unions Bill, has a right to express his views so long as it is done legally. Meanwhile, supporters of the Bill are reacting and have already collected more than 8,800 signatures in a counter petition that calls for equal rights and that states: “No to Gordon Manché.”
On Wednesday, Mr Manché, who heads the River of Love Christian Fellowship group, turned up outside Parliament with other group members and presented the petition to government whip Carmelo Abela, Opposition whip David Agius and deputy speaker Ċensu Galea.
The pastor – who sparked controversy and a public protest last year after claiming to convert gay people – said the petition did not want the Bill on Civil Unions to go ahead given that it included a proviso allowing gay couples to adopt. He also said that, should the Bill become law, he would call for a referendum.
Contacted yesterday, Nationalist Party general secretary Chris Said said the party’s position on the Bill had been clearly voiced in Parliament: the PN believed that legislative proposals on adoptions should not be included in a Civil Unions Bill but in the Adoptions Act since adoption was not an issue on the rights of a couple but on the rights of children.
“The PN believes that everyone has the right to put forward their opinion and use legal methods such as petitions to do so,” he said.
Similarly, Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela said Mr Manché had every right to submit a petition and express his views.
In cases when there were conflicting views there should be a civil debate and it was always important to be cautious in the way people expressed themselves to avoid fuelling homophobic sentiments, he said.
Dr Abela said the Civil Unions’ Bill that was debated in Parliament respected new forms of relationships that were previously not acknowledged. “We don’t want anyone to be marginalised. What’s for sure is that, as a party, we do not support fundamentalist positions,” he said.
The petition and its implications will be debated in Tuesday’s edition of Times Talk, a discussion programme aired live on TVM at 6.55pm. Mr Manché will be one of the guests. Viewers are urged to send their questions and comments on timesofmalta.com and on the Facebook and Twitter pages of Times Talk.