The government has all but ruled out amending the Marriage Equality Bill to include different terminology for gay couples, as Nationalist Party exponents are suggesting.
Read: PN ‘will support’ gay marriage law, Busuttil insists
Equality Minister Helena Dalli, who is piloting the Bill that makes it possible for gay couples to get married, said introducing some form of new terminology was not equality.
“We opted for gender neutrality because the law is all about the person, irrespective of who or what that person is… introducing new terminology does not equate to equality,” Dr Dalli said.
The Marriage Equality Bill is not a standalone law but one that seeks to make existing legislation, including the Marriage Act, gender neutral by replacing references to mother and father with parents, and husband and wife with spouse.
Although the amended marriage law will apply to everyone, the specific changes will give gay married couples legal certainty and help avoid embarrassing situations when they are required to fill in official forms.
Read: Gay marriage to be introduced in Malta soon
Some PN MPs have balked at the government proposal, with Opposition Whip David Agius claiming the next step would be to abolish Mother’s and Father’s days. While Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has said the party will vote in favour of the law, some of his MPs are insisting internally on being given a free vote.
The PN’s forum for equal opportunities last Thursday welcomed the proposed law but asked for the traditional references to be retained and other terminology to be included to cater for gay couples. The PN parliamentary group is expected to propose changes to the law at committee stage. Dr Dalli said the government would listen to and discuss any amendments presented by the PN but she insisted the overarching principle should remain equality.
“The spirit of what we are proposing is to ensure equality for all because we are also obliged by the Constitution not to discriminate and distinguish between different people,” she said.
Read: So what's this gay marriage bill all about?