Saturday 5 June 2010

Cyrus Engerer: Social Affairs Committee: A Visit to Medieval Malta

http://cyrusengerer.com/social-affairs-committee-a-visit-to-medieval-malta/
4.6.10 By Cyrus Engerer

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure to meet Parliament’s Social Affairs committee, led by Hon. Edwin Vassallo, to discuss the issue of LGBT rights in our country. Knowing before hand that the committee is made up of some of the most conservative MPs from both sides of the chamber, I quite expected what the outcome was going to be.


When one sums up all that was discussed during the meeting, which is nothing, since after the presentation by MGRM’s Gabi Calleja, the MPs asked questions only to be told that an asnwer should be given on another day, since in their opinion MGRM needed to do some homework prior to answering, the end result is that our MPs are without a doubt stagnant in their thoughts.

Amongst the questions to understand the current real scenario of various families around the world, including our own beloved little island that forms part of the globe, the Honourable MPs asked ”can you give us some examples of institutionalised homophobia?”, “can a same-sex family with children be called a family?”, “should what happens in the privacy of one’s bedroom be considered a public matter?” and even worst than all previous questions, “but in a same-sex relationship, which person takes over the role of the mother and who takes the role of the father?”!

As i said, I never expected the Social Affairs Committee to be liberal and progressive since it is made up of the most conservative people from both parties, excluding to some extent Profs. Anthony Zammit (PL), however, the questions asked have made me lose faith of having any legislation in favour of equality with regards to the LGBT community in the coming years.

I humbly ask the MPs, what is the role of the mother or that of the father in a family? Should the mother be the nappy-changer? cook? dish-washer? and should the father be the money provider and beer drinker at the local band club every evening? Do the MPs know that gender stereotyping has been over and done with?!

I wonder, how could they ever understand non-traditional families if they can’t even understand the contemporary traditional family?!

Its a shame that it is only the MPs and a few people here and there who are stagnant. Having been through the comments posted on The Times, with the vast majority being in favour of real equality, I do see a little ray of light at the end of the tunnel…but, which candidates should we vote for in the next election to represent us?…it will be a difficult choice since most, from both sides, will continue projecting themselves in conservative political thoughts since they think it would lead them to win more votes!

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1 comment:

  1. My dear Cyrus, why do you exclude Hon. Zammit from the others. Is he open minded and well informed on the subject when he himself is in big time denial about his own sexual orientation. I agree with you that most of those guys on the committee are mornons when evaluated on the types of questioned answered.
    But, Zammit, by saying what he is claimed to have said on the papers is more moronic than the lot because he is not being at least honest with himself let alone with the people who he represents.

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