Later today, we are expected to be voting on the third reading of the Civil Union Bill. This is where this particular journey, which started much before the last general election, comes to an end.

It was a voyage along which we travelled some distances, wearing the shoes of gay people. We were with their families in order to learn and better understand their realities. They spoke to us about their feeling of exclusion from mainstream society, how they have hitherto been denied the rights other citizens take for granted.

We met people who face daily obstacles because they have the ‘temerity’ to be true to themselves and come out as gay. We met gay parents whose lives are more of an uphill struggle than for the rest of us because we refuse to acknowledge the right of their families to exist. We also met their children who are cared for and loved, just like the children in the majority of our families.

We invited all those wanting to listen for a conversation on the lives of LGBTI people. We did so with understanding and with the humility which comes from having a flawed record, as a country, in the area of full equality for LGBTI citizens.

We are genuinely using the power of our position to call all those of goodwill to join us on the right side of history.

The step we will be taking today is about equality and justice. How can anyone argue against that?

How can we deny human beings their rights and, in some way, say they are not deserving of equal dignity, of respect, of legal recognition?

Apart from what we heard and learnt from our field work, there are the scientific reports that bolster these experiences.

According to a study by ILGA-Europe – which organisation works for human rights and equality for LGBTI people in Europe – only Cyprus had a worse track record on LGBTI issues than Malta within the European Union up to last year.

This government indicated the shape of things to come in the first few weeks in office by taking a stand on the Joanne Cassar case, who had been struggling for her rights for years.

The government sought an out-of-court settlement with the European Court of Human Rights, where she ended up in spite of the Maltese court originally ruling in her favour. But the Nationalist government, instead of amending the law so she may be granted her rights according to the court judgment, systematically appealed the decision.

When Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he wants to strive to be among the best in Europe, there were those who ridiculed the idea.

Now, Malta will move up the ladder when it comes to the respect of LGBTI rights in the wider European region.

The government, by presenting a Bill that was primarily formulated by civil society active in the LGBTI Consultative Council, continues to give proof that it is a government that listens and acts.

It is indignation about social injustice which is the firepower that drives us to challenge inequality

After today, there are, of course, other socio-legal hills to climb as there still remains a lot that needs to be done in other areas.

For instance, we shall be presenting a gender identity Bill and we are working on issues that affect intersex people.

We shall be hosting, together with Sweden, the Idaho 2014 Forum, a conference for governmental and civil society stakeholders on matters pertaining to LGBTI issues. We will continue to engage with European civil society like ILGA-Europe and Transgender Europe to keep on improving the situation of LGBTI people in Malta.

This is all part of a process of building and sustaining an inclusive society where the human rights of all are safe-guarded.

In 2011, Hillary Clinton spoke at the United Nations’ Palais des Nations in Geneva about protecting the human rights of all people:

“Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human and that is why gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.”

So simple… yet, so many find it hard to understand that the denial of basic liberties is wrong.

For us, it is indignation about social injustice which is the firepower that drives us to challenge inequality.

This is how we are here today.

Helena Dalli is Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties.