Malta: Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation Included In Hate Crime Laws

Pink News UK reports: 

The Maltese parliament has extended its hate crime laws for the first time to protect citizens on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The amendment to the hate crime laws, which until now made motives based only on religion, race and disability an aggravating factor in a criminal incident, came after a pair of attacks on lesbian women.

In January, a 16-year-old lesbian and her girlfriend were assaulted in a public square. The following month, another lesbian couple were physically attacked on a bus.

The Malta Gay Rights Movement welcomed the law, saying: “We thank both sides of the House for supporting this bill and sending a strong message to society that targeting someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is unacceptable and will incur tougher penalties.

“This Bill was proposed during a protest following the incident against two young lesbians in Hamrun earlier this year and was supported by aditus, We Are, LGBT Labour, Drachma and Drachma Parents, Graffitti, ADZ and Integra Foundation. The courage of these young people to report the crime played an important role in providing the required impetus to move forward with this legislative proposal which had been on MGRM’s agenda for a number of years.”

MGRM said the next step was to ensure police were properly trained in dealing with such crimes and in actively reaching out to the LGBT community to ensure that victims feel safe to come forward and report incidents.

It added: “We also look forward to the passing of a second bill which will extend the remit of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality to also cover sexual orientation and gender identity. This is expected to take place this week. It will allow the Commission to act as mediator and to investigate allegations of discrimination in employment on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

A survey by the news agency MaltaToday found support among the population for equal marriage rights among gay couples had risen over recent years to 41 percent with 51 percent opposed, compared with 28 percent support in 2007. Among 18-35s, the support rose to 60 percent.

Malta: Government May Give Cohabitant Gays Legal Recognition 

Pink News UK reports:

A bill due to arrive at Malta’s parliament which was designed to give cohabiting couples legal rights will include provisions for gay civil partnerships, an official has said.
Having been announced fourteen years ago, questions had been asked about whether the cohabitation bill would include specific provisions allowing gay couples to have legal recognition of their relationship or treat them in the same way as cohabiting siblings.
According to the Times of Malta, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry spokesman said: “The government’s stand is that the relationship between gay couples should be regulated through the law on co­habitation, including the institute of civil partnership.”
A backbencher in Malta’s parliament, Dr Pullicino Orlando, had written an opinion piece in the broadly Catholic country’s Times newspaper yesterday calling for equal marriage rights.
He wrote: “The Catholic Church, locally, has had a profound, positive impact on our society. It has been contributing in areas which range from education to the care of the elderly and the disabled for centuries, often stepping in to fill the gaps left open by the government.
“However, the policies of our political parties should not be adapted in such a way as to ensure that the metaphorical feathers of the Catholic hierarchy in Malta, which leans towards the conservative when compared with the rest of the Universal Church, are left unruffled.”
He added that “the only reason many are averse to the idea of gay marriage is simply a misguided one based on religious beliefs”.
Asked about the timing, he said: “When would it be the right time? Why should gay couples today be denied rights that gay couples in 10 years’ time are likely to enjoy?”
While Malta’s government has made no representation supporting gay marriages, the cohabitation bill is a first for the Mediterranean islands.
Couples, gay and straight, cohabiting outside marriage will be given greater legal protection than before in a special class of relationship below that of marriage but above that of individuals cohabiting outside a relationship.

Malta: Government Considers Hate Crimes After Bus Attack On Lesbians 

Pink News UK reports:

An off-duty Maltese bus driver has been charged after physically attacking two lesbian fellow passengers, reportedly for kissing.
The incident comes amid public discussion on the island over the introduction of hate crime laws to protect gay and transgender citizens.
Driver Marco Borg, 43, was charged on Saturday with causing injury and disrupting public order.
While there is no further penalty for homophobic motivation under current laws, the Times of Malta reports that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has instructed Justice Minister Chris Said to work on amendments to laws to prevent hate crimes.
In footage of the incident filmed by another passenger, the driver in charge of the bus at the time is seen restraining Borg after he attacked the two women, aged 21 and 17, last Friday.
In the UK, it was reported this week that two lesbians were attacked on a train after kissing.
Bus company Arriva said he had been let go, adding that is had “a zero tolerance policy when it comes to violence of any sort and would like to make it very clear that it condemns categorically and without reserve not only this incident but indeed any bullish, violent and other such reproachable and anti-social behaviour”.
“Moreover, the bus operator wants to make it absolutely clear that it has a very clear and open diversity policy which all employees are bound to respect.”
Malta continues to debate new hate crime laws after two girls were the victims of a homophobic attack last month.
In an interview with Malta’s Sunday Times, the girl said two men, who were later arrested, had called her and her girlfriend “twisted” before attacking them, leaving her with bruises and facial injuries.
Cyrus Engerer, a spokesman for LGBT Labour in Malta said state intervention would be necessary to tackle anti-gay incidents.
He told Malta Today: “It’s not possible for a mentality of a country to change if the laws of that same country remain unchanged.”
But the introduction of special hate crime laws are opposed by some.
Lawyer and opinion writer Claire Bonello told the Times of Malta: “It makes little sense to punish the different motives of a crime when the end result is the same – injury to the victim …
“If a person is attacked because the aggressor feels some sort of personal animosity towards the victim, why should that attack be punished less severely than one where the aggressor hates the victim because of the latter’s religious affiliation or belonging to a minority group?
“The whole notion of hate crimes does away with the concept of equality in the eyes of the law.”
At a press conference today, Malta Today reports Prime Minister Gonzi saying the government will include homophobia in hate crime laws in future: “We are sending a message to society in general, not to pass judgement of people, and that we expect the forces of law to enforce laws and eliminate all forms of discrimination.”

Country Of The Week: Malta