Monday, 2nd June 2008
The Malta Gay Rights Movement has expressed outrage at a civil court decision to revoke a previous ruling by the courts ordering the issue of marriage banns of a post-operative transsexual.
On February 12, 2007, the Civil Court ordered the director of the Public Registry to issue the marriage banns for a woman - who was born a man but was legally declared female following gender reassignment surgery - after noting that the union between her and her male partner did not contravene any provision of the Marriage Act. However, earlier this month the Civil Court, presided over by another judge, overturned the ruling and upheld the requests made in an application filed by the Marriage Registrar. The court ruled that the marriage of the woman in question to a man was in breach of the Marriage Act and revoked the February 12, 2007 ruling saying it was based on an "unrealistic premise" as the parties were not of the opposite sex.
Reacting to the latter judgement, the movement said that this clearly went against judgements of the European Court of Human Rights.
The MGRM also deplored the fact that undue weight was given to biological factors with psychological, social and historical determinants of gender being completely ignored. This too went against the deliberations of the European Court of Human Rights.
MGRM said it is inhumane for the government to continue to insist on a policy which causes grave hardship to a small minority of the population.
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