Postcard From the Minister of Tourism
Warning: angry rant below.
A couple of days ago, we received a post card from the Minister of Tourism and Culture. It is written in a font that makes it look like it is handwritten, which is some type of unsuccessful attempt to make us believe he wrote each one himself.
The card is addressed to us as a family. How very nice of the Hon. Francis Zammit Dimech to acknowledge that two men living together as a couple constitute a family. I almost want to send him a (real) handwritten post card in return, thanking him for his acknowledgement and asking if he would care to accompany that with any of the rights that other foreigners enjoy when married to a Maltese citizen.
Mostly, he thanks us for making this a year of record tourism in Malta. He even goes so far as to say that “l-impenn u x-xogħol tiegħek bħala Malti żgur għent bil-kbir biex fit-turiżmu akkwistajna dawn ir-riżultati eċċellenti.” Well, I am flattered Francis. Too bad that I am not Maltese and cannot even obtain any kind of residence status because of your government’s old-fashioned and homophobic laws. Perhaps if your colleagues in Parliament passed some laws similar to those of most Western countries, I might just be Maltese enough to be a productive member of society and help out in your tourism goals. And your letter addressed to us as a family would acknowledge a legal reality instead of a de facto situation.
(While we are at it, I calculate that in order to send this card to every household in the country, postage alone must have cost around Lm16,000/€34,269.97. What a wonderful use of taxpayers’ money).
Feeling a bit frustrated today… can you tell?
I always like a good rant and look forward to exchanging some when I get to visit you
Hang in there my dear friend.
It is a pity that some of the Maltese laws are very backwards.As you well pointed out, gay marriage (I hope this is the politically correct term) doesn’t exist and neither does divorce. In fact, Malta is one of the two countries in the world where divorce doesn’t exist. What about a marriage abroad? The Netherlands or perhaps Spain?
Unfortunately, it would not be recognised in Malta. However, I remain optimistic that as the younger generation takes over, the laws will change. Already there is one way around the divorce law by the fact that Malta recognises divorces performed abroad. So perhaps one day they will decide to accept same-sex marriages from abroad as well. But they don’t even have to go so far. Many countries allow certain rights to same-sex couples who are not married. That is what both Spain and the Netherlands did at first. Let us hope that some, even small, steps are taken here in the near future.
The Hon. Francis Zammit Dimech’s sexual orientation is far from being as square and straight as you may think it is. At least that’s what certain people say.
If it’s true the irony is huge. Ridiculously huge. Humongous, even.
This is what I hear, Mark. The irony was actually intended… perhaps I should have blatantly mentioned it!
Visibility is hugely important in such small islands. It is a shame that gay pride parties are full of revelers while the gay pride public demonstration in Valletta is embarrassingly miniscule. Maltese homosexuals need to get out of the closet publicly and fight for their rights. Nothing comes from staying at home.