Parliament approves Marriage Equality Bill in third and final reading

by Gozo News · July 13, 2017

Last night, Parliament approved the Marriage Equality Bill during its third and final reading.

This makes Malta the 25th country in the world, and the 15th in Europe, to approve such a law.

The Government said in a statement that the aim of this law is that of modernising marriage law through the mainstreaming of equality for all.

“This means that the institution of marriage is now fully gender neutral to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and genderqueer (LGBTIQ) persons are free to contract a marriage with their loved ones, be they of the same or a different sex, and also to parent children without having unnecessary references to their gender or biological make-up on their children’s birth certificates,” the Government said.

“All discrepancies between husband and wife have now been removed, ” the Government explained. “For example, both are now free to adopt or take on their partner’s surname without distinction. Their siblings would then take on the family surname that the couple choose on their marriage day.”

In its statement the Government pointed out that during the process towards the adoption of the Bill, a lot of the discussion centred on whether it was necessary to convert civil marriage to a fully gender neutral institution.

“The Government insisted that this was necessary in order to respect the anti-discrimination provisions in the country’s Constitution adopted in 2014 relative to sexual orientation and gender identity,” it said.

The Government also stated that “additionally, the Government indicated that both the Civil Unions Act, and the Cohabitation Act adopted in 2014 and 2016 respectively are both gender neutral, and that marriage should not be an exception.”

The Government of Malta and the LGBTIQ Consultative Council (a government instituted body consisting of representatives of all LGBTIQ civil society organisations) organised a celebration to follows last night’s approval,which was held in front of the Auberge de Castille, the seat of the Prime Minister’s Office.