UPDATED/Liberal and progressive only with gay MEN – not so liberal and progressive with others
UPDATED WITH REPLY FROM NEIL FALZON, DIRECTOR OF ADITUS, BELOW:
Dear Daphne,
A number of assertions made in this post are incorrect and unfair in the way they describe the values and activities of Aditus Foundation.
In your post you say that we championed the Prime Minister’s election to power, which we feel is an extremely serious allegation to make as it attributes a political motive to activities of a non-governmental organisation committed to promoting the respect for human rights.
Our activities speak loudly against this allegation. All our efforts at advocating for a better human rights environment for all persons in Malta are blind to political considerations, evident in the dedication, strength and commitment we put into whatever cause we are fighting for: LGBTIQ rights, migrant detention, pushbacks, trans inmates, integration, racism, etc.
A human rights victory, as was the adoption of civil unions legislation, is a celebration of the victory and not of the promoter. Whilst we celebrated this victory, we also loudly called – and continue to call – for the government to be as brave with refugees and migrants as it has been with the LGBTIQ community.
It is in this light that we choose to read your comment, rather than a criticism of our work. We share your frustration that Malta’s commitment to LGBTIQ rights remains unmatched in its treatment of migrants and refugees. That is clear, and whilst it will not stop us from celebrating victories, it is what drives us to continue the difficult task of standing up for the ignored, giving a voice to the side-lined, and restoring dignity to the abused.
This is something I had written for the Times of Malta last November.
Best regards,
Neil
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The good people at Aditus, the human rights organisation, have just taken the Prime Minister to task for his speech today in which he spoke about securing Europe’s borders against the world’s most vulnerable and desperate people – as distinct from terrorists or potential terrorists.
But the good people at Aditus were among those who championed Muscat’s election to power and celebrated him for legislation on same-sex marriage – which, incidentally, was driven all through by propaganda featuring and focussing on solely gay men, with lesbians left out of the equation completely. When did you ever see a lesbian couple in the Labour Party’s propaganda? That’s right. Never.
Aditus’s job is to protect the rights of ultra-vulnerable immigrants. That was in direct conflict with support for Joseph Muscat, who showed right from the outset, before his election, that he was gunning for the racist vote and that his party is anti-black. Not anti-immigrant, because they love immigrants who buy passports, pay for residence visas, and drop large amounts of cash on them, of which there are thousands, and they have no objection, either, to the large armies of third-country nationals who Labour Party donors and cronies employ in their quarries, on their construction sites, in their factories, workshops, homes and restaurants.
Now, because they wanted same-sex marriage, Aditus are having to deal with the vast number of problems created by Muscat’s racist policies, including the refusal to give citizenship to children born in Malta to protected immigrants.
Those who voted for Muscat to get same-sex marriage should understand that the rights of the vulnerable, of minorities, are inseparable from each other. The political party which champions gay men (but not gay women) and yet bullies vulnerable, stateless African immigrants is NOT progressive and liberal. It is dangerous.
And another thing: The Prime Minister should never be addressed as ‘dear’, even if he were endearing. It should be simply ‘Prime Minister’, even if he were not such a bad man, which he is.
