Malta’s great leap forward on LGBTIQ+ rights transformed it from conservative backwater to global leader in under a decade. Is Europride an occasion to look back and celebrate, or is the fight still on? JAMES DEBONO discusses the epochal changes and future challenges with sociologist Angele Deguara and activist Alex Caruana
Attitudes don’t change overnight | Cynthia Chircop
Reports of violent homophobia – such as the recent allegations of aggression by Paceville bouncers – seem at a glance to belie the country’s rising reputation as a ‘European leader in LGBTIQ rights’. But MGRM co-ordinator CYNTHIA CHIRCOP still believes that – notwithstanding the need for more education and awareness – Malta remains a ‘relatively safe’ place to be gay
3 August 2021, 7:51am
by Raphael Vassallo
In January, MGRM published a study which found that “55.6% of respondents said they did not feel safe in Paceville, while 35% claimed to have suffered some form of discrimination”. Recent events – including a much-publicised homophobic assault at Nordic Bar – seem to uphold those findings. First of all: how widespread do you believe the problem of violent homophobia to be in Malta today?