17th May – Day against Homophobia and Transphobia – AD for LGBT rights

Commenting on the international day against homophobia and transphobia, Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party saluted LGBT activists around the world who are standing up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons around the world.

Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, said that “Green parties are the most progressive parties when it comes to LGBT rights. The track record of the Greens in the European parliament is a case in point and Malta is no exception. The Greens are against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in all aspects of social policy. We welcome progressive decisions being taken in the EU on LGBT rights. In this regard, within MEUSAC (the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee), AD is the only political party which fully supports the proposed anti-discrimination directive proposed within the EU, whilst other political parties are opposing parts of the same Directive.”

Yvonne Arqueros Ebejer, AD Spokesperson for Civil Rights, said that “the struggle of LGBT activists and movements is part of the struggle for a more equal and inclusive society which is ultimately what a liberal and representative democracy should be all about. The LGBT community has made many victories yet there are many challenges that lie ahead, especially in conservative societies such as Malta. Shamefully in Malta we have recently had incidents of a pastor who wanted to ‘heal’ and ‘convert’ homosexual persons. To the contrary of such fundamentalists, we Greens believe that people with different sexual orientations are all different, but all equal.”