Challenges for Malta

Recent attacks on lesbians in Malta demonstrate that the island nation needs to take a good look at its moral conscience as well as its laws, writes Joseph Chetcuti.

Over the past few weeks, two lesbian couples were attacked in broad daylight, two at Hamrun and two at Floriana. At Hamrun, a 16-year-old lesbian and her girlfriend were assaulted by two young men. One of the girls was punched in the eye, head-butted on her nose, grabbed by her breasts and dragged by her hair.

At Floriana, a bus driver took offence at the ‘behaviour’ of two of his passengers. The passengers, aged 17 and 21, apparently were behaving in a manner that he did not approve. One of the women was thrown to the ground. The driver was later accused of having caused slight injury, disrupted public order and breaking the conditions of a previous release and probation.

In Malta, it is not all that uncommon for people to take the law into their own hands. After all, few have any respect towards the judiciary which is seen by many Maltese as not only partisan but also part of the problem.

That gay men and lesbians are attacked in Malta comes as no surprise to anyone remotely familiar with the hypocrisy and intolerance that is endemic in Maltese society. When the conservative Nationalist Party voted against decriminalisation in 1973, two of its prominent members were out and about fucking young men and taking advantage of their position.

I resist the temptation of stating what role these individuals occupied within the party or whether they were serving members of parliament.

In Malta, gay men and lesbians are being constantly put down. By priests! By politicians! By gay men and lesbians who are members of the Nationalist Party. By anyone who thinks he or she has a right to impose their morality on anyone. Behind the supposed smiles and friendship of the Maltese, life can be hell for gay men and lesbians.

During my last visit to Malta in 2010, two gay men committed suicide, hardly surprising in a country where families tend to put family honour ahead of their children’s interest.

What must really surprise foreigners are the comments that appear regularly in The Times of Malta, a conservative newspaper that was once headed by a lesbian (Mabel Strickland).

Take A.V. Cauchi, who took the time to draw readers’ attention to Article 209 of the Criminal Code, which, he says, lays down the country's ethical and moral code. He reminds us that in the section dealing with Crimes against the Peace and Honour of Families and against Morals, the law prohibits a person from committing an offence against decency or morals, whether committed in a public place or in a place exposed to the public.

So are we to conclude that public demonstration of homosexual affection amounts to an offence against decency and morals? Other contributors to the paper pretended to be non-judgemental and sought to find fault with the behaviour of the two lesbians. Even if the two lesbians had behaved improperly, it is none of the bus driver’s business, and if he took offence he should have called the police.

‘Coming out’ is still unsafe in Catholic Malta. Gay men and lesbians are afforded little protection. Malta has no anti-discrimination legislation and no laws against the vilification of gay men and lesbians. The current conservative government, which incidentally includes one out gay man, continues to drag its feet on what are basic human rights for gay men and lesbians.

Don’t be too surprised that the conservative party has an out gay man within its ranks. The Nationalists have always been good, very good, at protecting their own.

This is a country that claims to be Christian, a country with a Church that not only sweeps sexual abuses under the carpet but thinks it is above the law, a Church that conspires with governments to keep these sexual abuses out of the public arena. It is also a country that was awarded the George Cross for gallantry!

The only hope on the horizon is a newly invigorated Labour Party that is led by a young energetic leader, Joseph Muscat. Muscat has already gone on record when it comes to human rights for gay men and lesbians. He has promised to introduce anti-discrimination and vilification legislation as well as civil unions.

There is little doubt that the Church will leave no stone unturned to make sure the Labour Party is defeated at the next election.

Joseph Carmel Chetcuti is a barrister and solicitor and a writer. He came out as a gay man in 1972 and took part in the first Mardi Gras.

IMAGE: Joseph Chetcuti in Strait Street, Malta, which saw a flourishing gay community during and before WWII.