http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=4691345776640549&w=ac2c8b44,afffcd0c

[Daphne – Thank you.]

It’s the endoscopy that Silvio Parnis was looking for when he asked that very intelligent PQ of the Health Minister. Silvio was very concerned there were no endoscopies at Mater Dei.
I think we have found one.

To anybody interested, go here – find the link to story in question – don’t bother clicking, it’s been removed. The page above AND below, by incredible coincidence, are still there.

[Daphne – French kiss, apparently. Because you know, the Maltese have such a long history of French kissing that we actually have a homegrown word for it.]

There is actually a loop-hole there. Under EU law the partner of an EU national have the right to stay and work in Malta, as long as they can prove they are living together (and have done so for a certain period). I know as my boss is from New Zealand, but with British citizenship, while his fiancée, also from New Zealand, lacks the citizenship. She was nearly chucked out of the country and denied a work permit, until they found this little gem of a paragraph, showed it to immigration and voilà, she can now remain and work safely, as long as he does.

I have no clue whether this applies to same-sex couples or not, but it really should.

[Daphne – If it doesn apply to same-sex couples, it can be challenged. Unlike with marriage law, there is discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.]

Sorry. Let me be more clear. I am assuming in this scenario that Mary is married to Constantin and John is married to Tony (perhaps in Spain or Portugal). As you pointed out with Paul below, if they’re married there’s little that can be done. But presently Malta (and 22 EU member states) selectively recognizes these marriages. This is an affront to the full faith and credit in the marriage contracts of the members state that do recognize same-sex marriage (a similar situation presently exists in the US).

So in that respect discrimination (albeit softly spoken) against would-be married LGBT folk and the odd heterosexual same-sex couple about which you have previously written does exist within Maltese (PN?) “public policy.” I rather think the latter group would fall under the category of fraud, but I suppose that all depends on how Maltese legislators define a “durable relationship.”

And you’re right in saying that Malta has ample company in this discrimination, but that is no reason not to push against it. If we do not want Malta to be habitually behind the curve, we should not assume that it always will be. We should expect better.

I realize that the government plans to introduce cohabitation legislation. Would such legislation cover someone in my situation for immigration purposes? Do you think it should?

[Daphne – I have no idea because I don’t have the details yet. I doubt that it would or could cover immigration, though, because the idea is to regulate the position of couples who already live together in Malta.]

[Daphne – It is definitely representative.]

BTW, this is what talking too much about homosexuality can look and sound like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZPcGapl2dM

Agreed, so many countries have equality problems. We just need to flush out all these realities and figure out the problems that need to be fixed. That is what we are doing here I guess and that is the first step for this movement.