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Happy Pride Month from Gozo
The month of September is pride month for the island and LGBTI+ Gozo, together with the Ministry for Gozo are celebrating. How, I hear you ask? By installing a Diversity monument.
The monument is being showcased at the Xewkija roundabout in Gozo, and will be exhibited throughout the month of September, said the organisation.
“The Diversity monument symbolises the pink triangle, an image which used to identify gay men in concentration camps at the Second World War. Behind it, we can see the rainbow, showcasing hope, light, sun and nature, among other things”, said LGBTI+ Gozo in a Facebook post.
They also added that they feel it’s important that history is respected and not whitewashed, “whilst celebrating the progress as an island and keeping in mind our peers”, they added.
With regards to LGBT rights, Malta holds one of the highest standards. For five consecutive years, we have kept our place as the highest ranked country for LGBT rights.
Having brought in equal marriage, a liberal new gender recognition law, a ban on gay ‘cure’ therapy and pioneering protections for intersex people, amongst many others, have aided in Malta climbing the ranks over the last few years.
The most widely reported of these legal changes was arguably the vote in favour of marriage equality by Parliament. This came into effect in September 2017 and marriages involving same-sex couples were being entered into the public registry by the end of that year.
Another significant step was the government’s introduction of X gender markers on official documentation, introducing the possibility of gender-neutral markers for people’s passports and ID cards.
Happy Pride y’all!
