Rise to top of LGBTI rights ‘prime example’ of Malta’s standard-setting

Malta has retained its top ranking on the ‘rainbow map’ of rights for lesbian, gay, bi-, trans, and intersex people, unveiled during the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

ILGA-Europe’s 2016 Rainbow Europe package revealed an increasingly unequal picture of developments for LGBTI people across Europe, confirming that a few countries are still setting new standards for LGBTI equality and being propelled upward on our country ranking as a result.

“The countries who are on this upward curve tend to be the ones who have protected people from discrimination on the grounds of gender identity, or legislated to protect the bodily integrity of intersex people and who have ingrained this change in everyday measures such as equality actions plans,” ILGA-Europe Executive Director Evelyne Paradis said.

“Malta’s rise to the top of the Rainbow Europe rankings for the first time is a prime example of this standard-setting in action. These advances represent very welcome progress.”

Civil rights minister Helena Dalli said Paradis’s comments were a confirmation of Malta’s move in the right directoin. “This government’s work is being recognised for fighting discrimination and promoting equality all people, whether they are in the majority or a minority.”

Dalli is currently piloting an Equality Bill.

But too few countries fell in this category. Speaking at the 2016 launch in front of an audience that included ministers from several European countries, civil society groups and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Paradis remarked: “Contrary to popular belief, LGBTI equality is far from being a done deal in Europe. The picture is actually very mixed at the moment:  a lot of the governments that were leading the way on LGBTI equality a few years ago have slowed down their work, especially when it comes to new standards. In ILGA-Europe’s 20th anniversary year, we don’t want to see so many lagging behind. Now is certainly not the time for complacency.”

“There is an inherent danger in thinking that our equality work is done when we achieve protection in one facet of life, such as equal marriage or parenting rights,” Brian Sheehan, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, said.

“Such successes can give politicians the adrenaline needed to keep working towards full equality. These achievements can be the fuel that propels us to further progress; slowing down the pace of this change is a lost opportunity. We must remember that these hard-won advances will only benefit LGBTI people if they are translated into into the daily lived experience of being LGBTI.

“Having a law is only truly useful if they are implemented. Changing laws does not automatically change lives. What LGBTI people all over Europe need from their governments now is continual, committed and collaborative action.” 

In the countries at the bottom of our country ranking, LGBTI people and their families remain faced with a scenario where their rights are actively being eroded.