Keeping gay adoptions out of the Civil Unions Bill would have made the law on adoptions unconstitutional, Labour MP Deborah Schembri said today.

In a statement, she noted that within minutes of approving the Civil Unions Bill yesterday, the House of Representatives yesterday unanimously approved a Constitutional amendment which made any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation unlawful.

Dr Schembri, a candidate in the European Parliament elections, said the government had shown courage in retaining the Civil Unions Bill in its entirety, without bowing to Opposition pressure which would have undermined the rights of a section of the population.

She said enactment of this law meant the Labour Party had kept one of its most important electoral promises. Equality was a precondition for freedom and the PN had denied this right for same-sex couples.

CLAUDETTE BUTTIGIEG EXPLAINS HER ABSENCE AT CELEBRATIONS

Meanwhile, Opposition Civil Rights spokeswoman Claudette Buttigieg said she was devastated when revellers booed Nationalist MPs leaving parliament last night.

Ms Buttigieg told timesofmalta.com that she was meant to address the crowd after the approval of the Civil Unions Bill, but decided not to give her speech when confronted with “the angry crowd”.

The Opposition MPs abstained during the vote on the bill, but voted in favour of a constitutional amendment that made discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation unlawful.

“I was hurt tremendously. But, I think my presence would have offended the crowd even more,” Ms Buttigieg said, adding that she had lifelong friends celebrating in the square.

“I would have liked to have been there to share that moment with them but I felt it wasn’t right,” she added.

Asked what she would have said during her speech, Ms Buttigieg said: “I would have said that it was a historic day. The constitution was amended which takes a minimum of two thirds of the House. This was a big day, but unfortunately it was done hastily,” she said.