Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia has managed to start on the wrong foot. Rather than trying to bring his party and this country together, in his first act as leader of the Opposition, he has managed to try and drive yet another wedge into our society.

His actions have proved to all of us watching, that this is not the “new way” he promised. It is instead a regression towards policy and politics that aims to discriminate between persons. It is ultimately a message that even in its “rebirth”, the Nationalist Party does not feel the need to bring itself down to the people’s level and understand that we are all ultimately equal.

But the truth is that we are not all born equal – some are born disadvantaged in the physical, mental and societal aspect. But ensuring equity, and ensuring that the disadvantages that people face are rectified in various ways is the mark of a fair and equal society. And this is very much something that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has understood and ensured is continuously implemented within his own policies and politics.

But somehow Delia’s actions have shown us that this principle is not within the core of his future policy. Had this been the case, Delia would have chosen to understand the needs of all and more importantly, the needs of the disadvantaged.

Lesbian and single women seeking gamete donation abroad in order to have children, are currently at a disadvantage in our society. Unlike heterosexual couples they are not given any time off when trying to conceive through non-traditional methods. The law bars them from doing so, and instead of closing an eye to this, the government has pledged to not only listen, but to rectify the wrong.

I want a Malta where I can be who I want and where I can love who I want without the fear of being treated differently

It has embraced the fact that lesbian and straight women seeking to have children are just as deserving as anyone else of basic rights which help facilitate their happiness. So this is why I am so perplexed at the Nationalist Party’s decision to give the impression that these women are somehow less deserving of these rights.

On the contrary to their thinking, I tend to believe that persons who travel away from their homes in order to go through much sacrifice, great lengths and both physically and mentally draining procedures in order to have children, are very much deserving of their happiness.

But through its latest move, the PN has given this nation the impression that they simply do not believe that such persons should have the same rights as their heterosexual and coupled counterparts – and this simply isn’t right.

It breathes discriminatory policy based on the idea of “us and them” and the idea that one section of society deserves more rights than the other on the basis of their sexuality and relationship status. It tells us that the PN has clearly moved backwards instead of forwards in the field of civil liberties, because it simply hasn’t understood the fundamental basic aspect of true equality.

And this to me is not a “new way” of doing anything. Policies that breathe discrimination and inequality are policies of the past and are reminiscent of a time where Malta was a place where people simply couldn’t be themselves. And the great leaps that we have made in these fields over the past five years have resulted in a nation to be envied. It has created a freedom for citizens, because for the first time their identities are protected and there is no longer the fear of being a second-class citizen in one’s own home.

So the question now remains – will the Nationalist Party embrace all kinds of people? Will it embrace the single? Will it embrace those who aren’t straight? Will it embrace those whose socio-economic situation leaves them at a disadvantage? Or will it go back to its pro-patria roots?

I want a Malta of fundamental freedoms. I want a Malta where I can be who I want and where I can love who I want without the fear of being treated differently or not having the same opportunities as anyone else. Nothing more, nothing less.

You put your foot in it Delia. Let’s see if you’re happy being stuck in the mud, and the past.

Pia Micallef is a civil rights activist.