Updated: Committee to establish way forward for civil unions

A consultative committee is to be set up shortly to establish the best way forward for the introduction of civil unions, Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli said this morning. The minister said civil unions were promised in Labour’s electoral programme and the committee will include stakeholders, such as LGBT people, their parents and researchers. Dr Dalli was addressing a news conference on the out of court settlement reached with transsexual Joanne Cassar, who had taken Malta to the European Court of Human Rights after she was banned from marrying a man after gender reassignment surgery. Dr Dalli said the government will move amendments to the Maltese marriage act giving people who would have undergone gender reassignment surgery the right to marry. Dr Dalli said that the change in the law would be given priority on Parliament’s agenda so as to ease the suffering of people in Ms Cassar’s situation. Unfortunately, she said, this would not change people’s attitude overnight. “It is easy to change the law but difficult to change the culture into one where everyone’s dignity and rights are respected. “This is what is needed over and above the change in law,” the minister said. Ms...