Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most out of their lives and talents and believing that no one should have poorer life chances because of where they were born or which sexual orientation and gender they identify with (if any).
Oftentimes, groups of people with different sexual orientations and/or gender (or lack thereof) experienced discrimination. We could all agree that in Malta the latter has been addressed in the past four years under a Labour government thanks to several enacted laws, awareness campaigns and other active measures in the field of civil rights.
The latest measure introduced by the government is that Maltese citizens now have the possibility of displaying an ‘X’ marker instead of their corresponding ‘M’ or ‘F’ on their ID card and passport. This initiative complements previous initiatives wherein gender-neutral bathrooms were also introduced in government ministries and the removal of the gender types from the Marriage Equality Act – a law which has made it possible for people to marry other people, irrespective of their gender, sex, sexual orientation and any other label.
This government wants everyone to be regarded as an equal, irrespective of any given label or category they might fit in (or not). A gay person is a person prior to society labelling him a gay person and a woman is a person prior to society labelling her as a woman.
It is predominantly from these labels that stereotypes and consequently discrimination arise. The problem here is: what if a number of people do not conform to these types and labels? Is it justified to expect everyone to conform to a perceived notion of a ‘man’ or of a ‘lesbian’? We are all people, we are all diverse and we are all unique. This is precisely what this Labour government has been doing for the last four years; addressing stereotypes stemming from labels.
People are nowadays respected for what they truly are and not for what society would like them to be
In 2014 a Labour government voted for a Civil Union Act allowing same-sex partners equal rights and obligations as married couples. In 2015, the same government passed a law establishing basic rights for transsexual and intersex people, a world-first Bill to create rights for intersex people. Malta also became the first EU country to ban ‘conversion therapy’.
Malta has in fact been classified as the top country with regard to LGBTIQ rights by ILGA-Europe and the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act is regarded as a best practice in its field for other countries to follow by Trans-Europe.
Throughout the past years, I have heard several life experiences from people living in Malta or even visiting Malta, how what the Labour government has started and is implementing is affecting them and their lives; being more accepted and understood by their family members and friends; Malta being seen as an LQBTIQ-friendly destination and haven; being able to be the next of kin to their loved ones; being able to visit a loved one in hospital; being able to adopt a child together with their loved one; being able to change their gender on the ID card without too much bureaucracy, feeling comfortable enough in their own skin; things that many people might take for granted but for those who have been discriminated against and denied these basic civil rights, the Labour government led by Joseph Muscat has made a life-changing difference for them, however small that may be.
I, for once, feel people are nowadays respected for what they truly are and not for what society would like them to be. The consistency and momentum of this positive change can be felt by many yet we have always been faced with an Opposition’s consistency to drag their feet on such issues.
As Maya Angelou had once said, people will forget what they hear, they will forget what others did but they will not forget how others made them feel. Civil rights are not only a matter of laws but also of diversity, respect and dignity.
I can truly say, as a person affected positively in the field of civil rights by a Labour government, that most people will definitely not forget how the two national political parties made them feel on these issues in the last years: a Labour government who consistently promoted and implemented measures in favour of equality for all and a PN Opposition who consistently dragged its feet and still provides an instable future in the field of civil rights in Malta.
Clayton Cutajar is an activist in the LGBTIQ community.