http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/New-step-in-recognising-transgenders-identity-welcomed
10.11.2011 by Matthew Vella
The Malta Gay Rights Movement and aditus have welcomed an amendment to legislation that will eliminate one of the human rights violations currently taking place in respect of transgender persons.
The amendments will do away with the current practice of appointing a court expert to verify irreversible sex reassignment.
“However, this falls far short of the comprehensive legislative changes required in order to meet current best practice in this field as clearly outlined in the report ‘A Proposed Gender Identity Act for Malta’ presented by MGRM in December 2010,” MGRM spokesperson Gabi Calleja said in a statement.
The proposed Gender Identity Act was tabled in parliament by MPEvarist Bartolo but has still not yet been put on parliament’s agenda.
The main proposals contained in the MGRM document largely reflect those recommended in a recent study published by the CoECommissioner of Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg on discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Europe.
These include the granting of legal recognition for the preferred gender of transgender persons, and speeding up procedures for changing the name and sex of a transgender person on official documents.
The draft also proposes the abolition of sterilisationl removal of the requirement of being unmarried, or divorced for already married persons, as a necessary condition for the legal recognition of a transgender person’s preferred gender; marriage rights for transgender persons; and placing of sex reassignment surgery on the national health system.
“The Malta Gay Rights Movement and aditus urge the Minister for Justice to take the current proposal tabled by MP Evarist Bartolo as the basis for the development of any legislative change as this meets the human rights standards as understood in the Yogyakarta Principles and the Hammarberg paper,” Callaja said. “Additionally, any amendments to the proposed bill should be discussed with MGRM and aditus as the sole credible interlocutors for trans people.”
[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on Malta Today's website.]
The amendments will do away with the current practice of appointing a court expert to verify irreversible sex reassignment.
The Malta Gay Rights Movement and aditus have welcomed an amendment to legislation that will eliminate one of the human rights violations currently taking place in respect of transgender persons.
The amendments will do away with the current practice of appointing a court expert to verify irreversible sex reassignment.
“However, this falls far short of the comprehensive legislative changes required in order to meet current best practice in this field as clearly outlined in the report ‘A Proposed Gender Identity Act for Malta’ presented by MGRM in December 2010,” MGRM spokesperson Gabi Calleja said in a statement.
The proposed Gender Identity Act was tabled in parliament by MPEvarist Bartolo but has still not yet been put on parliament’s agenda.
The main proposals contained in the MGRM document largely reflect those recommended in a recent study published by the CoECommissioner of Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg on discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Europe.
These include the granting of legal recognition for the preferred gender of transgender persons, and speeding up procedures for changing the name and sex of a transgender person on official documents.
The draft also proposes the abolition of sterilisationl removal of the requirement of being unmarried, or divorced for already married persons, as a necessary condition for the legal recognition of a transgender person’s preferred gender; marriage rights for transgender persons; and placing of sex reassignment surgery on the national health system.
“The Malta Gay Rights Movement and aditus urge the Minister for Justice to take the current proposal tabled by MP Evarist Bartolo as the basis for the development of any legislative change as this meets the human rights standards as understood in the Yogyakarta Principles and the Hammarberg paper,” Callaja said. “Additionally, any amendments to the proposed bill should be discussed with MGRM and aditus as the sole credible interlocutors for trans people.”
[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on Malta Today's website.]
No comments:
Post a Comment