University lecturer Stephen Florian has apologised for Facebook comments he made yesterday and which raised an uproar.
Dr Florian had said it was time to out Alex Caruana as transgender after he "photo-mobbed" an anti-migrant group at a manifestation last Sunday.
In a statement today, Dr Florian said he wanted to publicly apologise to Mr Caruana.
He said that he had never ever had problems with LGBTI people and he was proud of his friendship with several of them in Malta and abroad.
Dr Florian said he was admitting to an error of judgement, and he did not have homophobic intentions. He said he had made connections between the past and the present when he was surprised at seeing Alex Caruana speaking on Xarabank .
He said he had made connections between the past and the present when he was surprised at seeing Alex Caruana speaking on Xarabank .
Since "atheists" had turned up to disturb a protest in Bugibba (over plans for a Muslim prayer room) he had suspected a plot (kumplott medjatiku) and had thus written what he had written.
Dr Floriana said that while he was assuming responsibility, he did not wish to harm anyone, including Mr Caruana, the Moviment Patrijotti Maltin or others.
He believed that the planned talks with the Malta Muslim Council under the leadership of Beder Zeina would be fruitful and lead to dialogue between all parties.This was a process which would succeed only with everyone's work and not just an individual's.
Satisfying everyone would not be easy, but he hoped common sense and respect and dignity for all would prevail.
Dr Floriana again apologised for his error, whi made out of haste.
The apology came a day after anthropologist Mark Anthony Falzon asked on Facebook whether Dr Florian's prejudice and attitude impeded him from doing his job properly at the Junior College/University.
"I think they may well do so, and I will be filing complaints with the following on Monday morning: the NCPE, the Pro-Rector for Student and Staff Affairs, and the JC Board. I'd be happy to go it alone, but I'm sure there are colleagues who would like to join me," he said.