[WATCH] PN to abstain on civil unions, ‘society not ready for gay adoptions’

Video by Ray Attard

Simon Busuttil gathered all his MPs on the steps to the House of Representatives’ chamber today to announce that the Opposition will not be voting in favour of the civil unions’ bill, but abstain because of the reservations it had on gay adoptions.

Busuttil was clear about the PN’s “compact, united” stance. “We are in favour of civil unions, but the government is confusing civil unions and gay adoptions, and it preferred to have us divided on this matter rather than seeking consensus.”

Busuttil, who last week announced a new ‘equal opportunities’ branch for his party, claimed the introduction of gay adoptions on the back of civil unions was “too fast” a development.

“We would have preferred a law on civil unions first, and then introduce gay adoptions… the government unnecessarily confused the two issues in a bid to divide us. It would have been better to have the House voting on this law unanimously.”

The Opposition leader also claimed that “80% of the people out there” were against gay adoptions, and that the Opposition was representing the general feeling in society.

“We felt that a step forward would be to have a civil unions bill without, at this stage, gay adoption. We would then wait for society to adapt to civil unions, and revisit gay adoptions.

“If you have 80% of people opposing gay adoptions, how can you say society is ready for this reality? This is a reasonable, balance position.”

Busuttil said that adoption was not about parents’ rights, but children’s right. “Their rights here are not guarantee because society is not ready for it. And this worries us,” Busuttil said.”

Busuttil also hit out at the Labour government for breaching privacy rights with new rules granted to the education minister to create student profiles from kindergarten right up to university level.

“We have a case here of a government that votes in favour of civil unions, but against the privacy and data protection of our children.

“This is a hypocritical government. It portrays itself to be come champion of human rights, when it doesn’t care about civil rights where a vote is not to be gained. It says it wants to champion civil liberties, but then breaches the rights of students’ privacy.”

The House today will not only vote on the civil unions bill, but also on a Constitutional amendment proposed by civil liberties shadow minister Claudette Buttigieg to protect LGBT citizens against all forms of discrimination.

The Opposition will also demand a debate on the powers accorded to the education minister in legal notice 76/2014 to create student profiles.

In a first reaction, Joseph Muscat tweeted out a message to Busuttil: “There is no such thing as à la carte equality. You either believe in it or not. We do.”

Opposition spokesperson

Earlier on in the day, civil liberties shadow minister Claudette Buttigieg echoed Busuttil’s position: “Adoptions and civil unions should not have been placed together. Adoption is not the right of a heterosexual or homosexual couple, but a child’s right. I think we are confusing the people with this sort of imposition. Society has its reservations and it’s our duty to delve deeper.”

In a reaction, Silvan Agius, human rights policy coordinator at the Ministry for Civil Liberties, said that the civil unions bill clearly indicates that same-sex and different-sex civil partners will have to go through the same adoption procedure that is currently applied to adoptions by married partners.

“Once again, the Prime Minister and Minister Helena Dalli have stressed this point on countless occasions. Aside from the above, the Civil Unions Act that will be adopted today, will not have a reference to adoptions. It is the Civil Code that will be amended to ensure that civil partners have equal access to adoption as heterosexual partners.

“It is baffling to see that Hon. Buttigieg is repeated her same old statements when she was present in Committee when Prof. Angela Abela clearly state that there is no study that supports the continuation of the current discriminatory legislation, and that it is the manner in which parents care for their children that matters, and not their sexual orientation,” Agius said.

“Hon. Buttigieg should do her part, and inform those people who may still be confused, by ensuring that she portrays the scope of the bill fairly.”