[Daphne – And then when it was known already that he is gay, he was given one of the most important and significant state roles there is. And the government, which is one reason why I vote for it, didn’t feel the need to wheel him out on a pink trolley and say ‘Look everyone! Ghandna gej bhala kap tal-Malta Enterprise.’ Stop twisting it. You actually sound DISPLEASED to learn that the government does not penalise people for being gay. Tsk tsk.]

‘Gejs’, Mile End, coffee…not my cup of tea, thanks!

P.S. Perhaps YOU should have a coffee with Barroso and tell him to forget about the infringement proceedings because the chief of Malta Enterprise is gay. Really!

No, again, you’re the one confusing issues:

1. the Maltese Government’s official position (that’s the one that goes into official replies); and

2. the duties some gay persons are given by the current administration, which is not an official position at all, particularly if that person was not known to be gay WHEN he climbed the administration’s rungs.

[Daphne – Bollocks. You’re making me swear now. Alan Camilleri ‘came out’ BEFORE he was made chief of Malta Enterprise. And yes, it is an official position because it is the state’s investment-generation organisation. When Mr Camilleri travels, he travels to represent Malta. First you criticise the government for discriminating against gays, then when it’s pointed out to you that there are gays in very senior positions, you try to find some reason why this isn’t really valid. Unbelievable. Mela mur ivvota ghal xi hadd li kull ma jaghmel ghal-‘gejs’ hu li jistiedenhom ghal-kafe l-Mile End ha jsoddhom. Mamma mia.]

People like me, unlike you, have the rational and emotional capability of feeling compassion for others who might be suffering/have suffered some form of discrimination, notwithstanding the fact that I might have suffered a more serious/some other form of discrimination myself.

[Daphne – The point is, Ian, and you’ll find that most Maltese lesbians over 45 will agree with me, that when you’ve spent the first three, four, five or even six decades of your life as a second-class citizen – literally, not figuratively – you have a different perspective to gay men on what constitutes discrimination. There are lesbians still living in Malta who didn’t even have the vote when gay men did. There’s a reason why the men are doing all the shouting in this debate. Let me put it another way: if you spent 30 years of your life in a wheelchair you’re not going to become especially exercised because, now that you’re out of the wheelchair, you’ve bust a toe.]

You are pitting two forms of discrimination against each other: “Don’t complain cos I had it worse!”. That, in my books, and not any part of the fight for women’s rights, sounds shrill and hysterical.

[Daphne – I am anything but shrill and hysterical, Ian. I am extremely level-headed in debates. And if you were a careful reader you would have noticed that I never said ‘Don’t complain because we had it worse’. I am asking you to get a sense of perspective. That ‘we’ is interesting, anyway. Where do you place lesbians – with ‘you’ (gay men, apparently) or with ‘we’ (me and all women, gay or straight)?]

I’ll leave the lies (and received wisdom) to whoever insists that “I have yet to come across any such statement, let alone see it ‘repeatedly stressed’.

[Daphne – ?]

Daphne, please. Paedophilia (lovers of children) is not a crime. Paedophiles who do not abuse children and do not break the law in any way are not criminals. And there are hundreds of them. And it’s no use hating them. They are not going to get any better by people’s rage.

[Daphne – Paedophiles do not ‘love children’. They want to have sex with them. It’s a misnomer.]

From a scientific point of view, there is nothing wrong with any sexual orientation – even paedophilia. Problems crop up when you have low IQ, irresponsible and immature guys. I may get sexually excited for Censu’s donkey but as long as I respect the law nobody can say anything.

There are hundreds of mature and responsible paedophiles, hebephiles, teleiophiles … name it and you have it. You will never know about them because they have a low-profile life and never get into any trouble. And they didn’t choose their sexual orientation and so it’s no use having guilt feelings.

[Daphne – I can’t believe this. What am I doing here? Who exactly are you defending here?]

Daphne, please. Don’t keep believing the crap dumped on Xarabank regarding this subject which make people out of their mind with hatred for the poor guys.

p.s keep the good work. I really enjoy spending time reading your articles. You’re the best.

Why are you asking me? Ask the government official who drafted that reply to the European Commission’s letter.

[Daphne – I’m not asking you. I’m pointing out the inherent contradiction. If the government of Malta really does view same-sex relationships as being against public policy, then it would not appoint people in same-sex relationships to extremely prominent positions in which their job is TO REPRESENT MALTA WITH FOREIGN INVESTORS.]

But if you seriously need an answer to your question: the Freedom of Movement Directive regulates freedom to move and reside within an EU Member State not the freedom to take your partner to official functions!

[Daphne – You’re confusing the two separate issues: the freedom of movement directive and Malta’s alleged policy on same-sex relationships. The partner in question is, I believe, an EU citizen. I can understand why Malta, Sweden, France and the United Kingdom in particular haven’t signed this. Yes, I understand, and it’s for reasons to do with straight couples, not gay ones. The UK, for instance, has a massive problem with the importation of Indian and Pakistani brides in marriages of convenience. Malta had a similar problem, though nowhere near as extensive, with North African men marrying Maltese women in similar marriages of convenience (for the right to residence and work – I should add that many such marriages are genuine). We also have a problem with Maltese men bringing in ‘partners’ who are in fact prostitutes and the foundation of a white-slave racket. If the right to bring in a non-EU partner is given to same-sex couples, it follows that the same right will have to be extended to straight ‘couples’ to avoid discrimination (which doesn’t only work in one direction).]

Let’s get some facts right:
The EU Freedom of Movement Directive allows partners of EU citizens in a durable relationship to move and reside freely in any EU Member State. This should apply irrespective of sexual orientation but the Maltese Government, in its draft transposition of this Directive, is denying this right to partners of the same gender because “such relationship is in conflict with the public policy of Malta”.
According to the Commission, Malta told Brussels that same-gender partnerships breached Maltese public policy (See the Sunday Times report 10 April 2011 – as yet not denied by any Government spokesperson).

[Daphne – See my remark about the journalist’s brother, who gives the lie to that statement. He is gay, was Lawrence Gonzi’s personal assistant, and is chief of Malta Enterprise – a government-appointed position – and goes to all official functions with his (obviously male) companion. So let’s give it a rest, shall we – I have had enough of this rubbish.]

So, no I cannot live with my South American partner in Malta because the Maltese Government so far is intent on denying us this right. And whether I prefer to live in the UK or in my own home country, is frankly none of your business.
Shame on you!

[Daphne – ‘Shame on you!’ That’s Labour working-class elve-speak and really childish and tiresome. Listen up, if I had a South American partner I wouldn’t be able to bring him to live with me in Malta either. And don’t tell me that I can marry him because my answer to that – as it would be from anyone else who knows what marriage really is rather than just the pipedream you think it is, is ‘why the hell should I have to?’ You don’t enter into a lifetime’s commitment and all that legal hassle just to get somebody a work or residence permit.]

Oh no? Have a look at Ivan Camilleri’s Sunday Times report of 10 April 2011. As far as I know, this has never been denied by any Government representative. (I’m not copying the link because every time I write the word “sex” and submit my comment, it disappears.)

But of course, you’ve already seen it!

I understand that you grew up in a situation where, as a woman, in particular, you had it very bad. But please get over your trauma and stop sounding so shrill and hysterical. The discrimination women suffered in our country is no reason not to right other wrongs today.

[Daphne – ‘Shrill and hysterical’; ‘get over it’: spoken like a true chauvinist and gay or not, you’re not even aware of it. You know what? The gay men dominating this space don’t sound like gay men. They sound like…men. There you are, stamping your feet all over the forum because you can’t marry another man (to no particular end or purpose in the 21st century), and then you tell women – who were second-class citizens to your first – to get over it. What would you have done in our position, I wonder. Imagine if somebody were to have told you that you have no rights over your own property because you’re gay, and somebody else has to administer and sell it instead. Get over it, my eye. Maltese men, gay or straight – il-vera fihom priza (with many exceptions, of course, but in general, god help us).]

“I have yet to come across any such statement, let alone see it ‘repeatedly stressed’.”

The European Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to the Maltese Government on its allegedly incorrect draft transposition of the Freedom of Movement Directive.

According to the Sunday Times (10 April 2011): “The government said Maltese legislation recognises “the partner with whom the Union citizen has a durable relationship” but qualifies it with the sentence “unless such relationship is in conflict with the public policy of Malta”.

According to the Commission, Malta told Brussels that same-sex partnerships breached Maltese public policy.”.

But you know this.

Daphne,

I haven’t fallen victim to received wisdom and gossip. If you read Malta’s response to the EU Commission’s comments on our transposition of the Free Movement Directive, you’ll clearly read the rationale behind the incorrect transposition (http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110410/local/malta-discriminating-against-same-sex-couples-commission.359131)

Ultimately, it should be argued that the right to marry is an internationally recognised human right that ought to be enjoyed by all persons.

It is however problematic that institutions like the European Court of Human Rights have not yet taken the step of recognising its application also to homosexual persons.

[Daphne – Thank you for pointing that out. Some people here are more likely to believe you than me on that one.]

And for the record, my husband had never voted Labour: we are Gozitans and we like Chris Said very much. We might make an exception for this coming election however. Like so many disaffected Natioalists, we’re tired of the institutionalized corruption brought on by 20 years of PN rule.

[Daphne – Zachary, Paul has just told me that you are a US citizen. So you can’t possibly vote in Maltese general elections. I really enjoyed reading his reply and appreciate the time he took to write it. I forgot to tell him that so please let him know. On the subject of voting, I think it’s really charming that you say ‘we’, but Maltese married couples don’t think like that. Most of us guard our vote fiercely and see it as a personal and individual thing.]