Conrad Borg Manché hits back at criticism over LGBTIQ remarks

Nationalist MP Conrad Borg Manché has hit back at politicians who criticised his remarks on the LGBTIQ community, accusing them of creating a false narrative, as Equality Minister Rosianne Cutajar said his comments showed that the Nationalist Party had not fully accepted the values of equality and respect that Malta had chosen to uphold.

"I never attacked anyone because of their sexual orientation, nor have I ever proposed that any civil right be reduced or removed from anyone," Borg Manché said. "Those who are saying otherwise either did not understand what I said, or are deliberately and maliciously trying to create a false narrative."

Borg Manché had told MaltaToday in an interview published on Sunday that he did not see the need to expose young children to drag performances or pride marches, and that he believed LGBTIQ people were already accepted by society. He also said that pride events showed "how unequal" the community was, rather than advancing equality. The remarks drew criticism from public figures.

Borg Manché insisted that his comments had been misrepresented. "I did not speak about the rights of adults. I spoke about children and about the right of parents to play a leading role in raising them," he said. "Those trying to turn this into an attack on the LGBTIQ community are making an argument I never made."

He added that equality also meant the right to express a different opinion without being labelled or demonised and accused certain politicians of trying to score political points rather than engage in serious debate.

Cutajar, who holds the portfolio for equality and civil rights, said that since 2013, Malta had taken significant steps to ensure that every person, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, could live with dignity, respect and freedom.

That progress, she said, had not come on its own but through a clear political commitment to a more inclusive and just society. "Equality is a responsibility we must renew every day, in the present and in the future," she said. "When we begin to doubt the value of initiatives that gave visibility, dignity and a voice to people who for many years were marginalised and excluded, we are ignoring the realities those communities lived and the collective journey that brought us to where we are today."

Cutajar said she would continue to work to ensure Malta remained a country where nobody felt inferior, discriminated against or excluded, and that the progress made in equality and civil rights had to be consolidated, strengthened and protected from any attempt to weaken it or take the country backwards.

Borg Manché, for his part, said his principles had not changed. "I will continue to believe that every person must be treated with respect and dignity, but I will also continue to believe that parents must be the protagonists in raising their children and that young children must be protected," he said.

He said these are his principles today as they were yesterday, and he has no problem defending them publicly.