Tag Archives: Malta

The New York Times reports: The British tourist who answered the door of a third-floor apartment had no idea she was staying at the residence of one of the world’s richest men. Peter Thiel, the billionaire and Republican political patron, has declared the two-bedroom apartment that he rents himself as his address while he works toward a goal he has …

The Daily Beast reports: There is a popular saying in Maltese that goes something like this: Tixtrix hut fil-bahar, or “don’t pay for the fish while they are still in the sea.” But on the tiny European island, the Maltese are already making plans for what they will do if their favorite son’s son, Pete Buttigieg, is elected as the …

Reuters reports: Maltese lawmakers voted on Wednesday to legalize same-sex marriage on the Roman Catholic Mediterranean island, fulfilling Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s campaign promise to make this the first law brought before parliament in his new term. Malta was the 24th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage with today’s vote coming just two weeks after German lawmakers approved …

The Independent reports: Parliament this evening approved the second reading of the bill introducing gay marriage, with one Nationalist MP, Edwin Vassallo, voting against. The committee stage, as announced this evening by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, will take place on Thursday and Friday with a final vote on the third reading to be taken on Wednesday 12 July. The Bill, …

Earlier this year Michael Voris, the virulently anti-gay and comically bewigged Catholic activist behind the website Church Militant, confessed that he had once led a “sexually sinful life of live-in relationships with homosexual men.” Today Voris’ site denounces Malta, which last week banned ex-gay torture. From their article: Although Malta has a 90-plus percent Catholic population and is a Catholic …

The Guardian reports: Malta has become the first country in Europe to ban gay conversion therapy after the parliament in Valetta unanimously approved a bill outlawing attempts to “cure” homosexuals of their sexuality. Under the new Affirmation of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression Act, anyone found guilty of trying to “change, repress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, …

Malta Today reports: The Malta Gay Rights Movement has called on parliamentarians to put forward a Bill opening up marriage to all couples irrespective of their gender, “without delay”. MGRM coordinator Gabi Calleja welcomed the cross-party consensus on gay marriages after both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil came out in favour of the matter. “MGRM welcomes …

Yesterday Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted his pride after his tiny island nation was ranked as the best in Europe on LGBT rights by ILGA-Europe. Malta Today reports: Malta has shot up to a historic first place in the International Lesbian-Gay Association’s ‘Rainbow Europe’ league for LGBTIQ rights, overtaking the United Kingdom and Belgium. According to the table, Malta grants …

Via Malta Today: Today history will be written in Malta, when Parliament is expected to legalise civil unions. Same-sex couples will have the same rights and obligations as married persons of the opposite sex, including the possibility to adopt children. When one thinks that until a few years ago, Malta did not even allow divorce, one can only conclude that …

A Eurovision blogger snarks about the selection: Formed last June, the group has written that it hopes “to produce a fresh sound to the music scene both locally and internationally.” Their number is definitely fresh for the Mediterranean. But it’s less novel in places like the Louisana Bayou, Applachia, and large parts of honky tonk land in the United States. …