ADDRESS BY THE HON. LOUIS GALEA, MINISTER OF EDUCATION, AT THE NATIONAL BI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE MALTA UNION OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS ON HOMOSEXUALITY: INITIATING A NATIONAL DEBATE

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to remember and salute Alfred Zammit Montebello, the President of the Malta Union of Professional Psychologists who passed away last December. His contribution to the development of psychological services in Malta is now an important part of the history not only of this Union but also of this young profession. He was the first psychologist, and also the first school psychologist, to be appointed by Government. Even after his retirement he continued to generously offer his services to the Maltese people. Your President told us how much involved he was in the preparations for this conference. I have no doubt that Alfred is now eternally "included" in the peace and the bliss of the God he loved so much through the care and love he extended to all those in need when he was still with us. It is now up to us all to carry forward the vision and the work to which Alfred's whole lifetime was dedicated.

When I looked at the programme of your conference, with its various topics, its wide-ranging concerns, I was reminded, yet again, of how particular is the viewpoint that a politician brings to any subject of public interest.

As a rule, a politician – that is, in his or her role of a politician – is interested in the legal aspect of a subject, in what the attitude of the State should be. You will be discussing questions that touch the core of what it is to be human – sexuality, friendships, choice and destiny, ethics and healing. But to me – I repeat, as a politician – the importance of your discussions does not lie so much in how they touch upon ethics, as such, in this specific context or upon therapy, as such. Rather, I am concerned with what the State can do to help homosexual persons reach the fullness of their potential – or at least, with what it can do so as not to obstruct them. Since I am Minister of Education, I am particularly concerned with what schools can do.

The two principal values of the State are liberty and equality. How can these values be realized with respect to the place of homosexual persons in wider society?

There are some matters on which we have virtual consensus in Malta. It is widely agreed that the value of liberty demands, for instance, that there is no interference in the private life of consenting adults. And the value of equality demands, for instance, that it is the responsibility of the State to protect the dignity of all persons. There should be no toleration of any attack on personal dignity, including attacks motivated by the sexual orientation of the victim. Is there any serious disagreement about the principle, for example, that a person cannot be dismissed from his or her place of work on account of sexual orientation?

But the questions on which there is consensus often lead to other questions, on which broad agreement has yet to be reached. Take, for example, the formation of homosexual households. Their formation is protected by the right of freedom of association. But should the State accept that the formation of a homosexual household brings with it certain rights and duties to its members – on the basis of being fellow members of a household, if not on any other basis? That is, should the law protect homosexual persons who invest their best years, energies, and money in building up a household?

The issue here is whether certain rights and duties arise when one – anyone – shares a household for a significant period. If they do arise, what should they include? Inheritance rights? Including inheritance of pensions? Taxation arrangements? What else?

These are controversial questions in Malta. There is no broadly shared answer to them. Yet the lack of agreement might be there because we have not focused closely enough on the questions. One of my hopes for this conference is that it will help me, as a politician, improve my own focus.

As a society, we are committed to the development of an inclusive society through an inclusive education strategy. We are learning to appreciate more and more human diversity, and to view it not as a problem but as an enrichment to our society. The democratic progress is long term. It is based on the right of each person, whatever his or her characteristics to equal respect and citizenship. This is being achieved through a long term process of awareness, legislation and practice.

When I read about the struggle for acquisition of gay rights in the UK as being termed "coming out" publicly, I was reminded of a somewhat similar process experienced in Malta with regards to persons with disability. They too were, in the not too distant past, hidden away from public view. Through the action of persons with disability themselves, their parents and associations, they have now "come out" into Maltese mainstream society and are participating fully in the cultural, social and economic life of our community. They are helping us to appreciate human diversity.

We are now experiencing a similar process in relation to homosexuality. Gay, lesbian and bisexual persons in Malta, as elsewhere, have always been participating in our cultural, social and economic life. But most have had to hide their true identity. Why? Is it because of fear of discrimination? How is this changing? What does it mean for society? This conference is itself a continuation of this process of evolution in our ideas, culture and mentality.

I understand that within psychology, homosexuality has now for some time been removed from psychopathology. It is no longer viewed as a disorder.

But the idea that homosexuality is some form of deviance, generally still remains strong. We treasure the normal family set up as the basis for a healthy society. Many of us still find some difficulties even to accept single mothers and separated families. There is a concern among the majority of the population that by promoting the acceptance of diverse forms of family arrangements we are thereby promoting deviancy and destroying the value of family life. On the other hand, we cannot not be aware of the value of every person and of one's fundamental right to personal choice. We are also being faced with the issue of the rights of reconstituted families, while still promoting and fostering the value of traditional family relationships.

How are we in Malta to include gay, lesbian and bisexual persons while at the same time implement a strategy to strengthen our traditional family values? I expect that this conference will increase psychologists’ understanding of sexual orientation and their ability to enable persons with gay, lesbian or bisexual orientations to understand themselves and "come out" with their identity to live fulfilled lives, as well as to help society understand their equal rights and contribution to society.

But, as I said earlier, my interest in this conference stems particularly from my role as Minister of Education. The issue of having schools that are more adequate to the needs of lesbian and gay pupils falls within my ministerial responsibility. Here again, there are certain issues over which there is consensus. Take bullying, for instance. This is obviously wrong. It is not justified for any reason. It arises in schools and it falls squarely within the responsibility of schools to resolve.

There are other matters, however, over which there is no broad agreement. Take the issue of sexual education, for instance. How should it treat homosexuality?

A major source of difficulty here is that sexual education is a complex and difficult subject independently of the issue of homosexuality. Certainly, sexual education should inform about the scientific and objective truths of sexual activity. But if we want it to be an education concerned with human sexuality in its richness, and not just with genital sexual activity, then the objective truths about sexual activity cannot be abstracted from wider issues of equality and dignity. Sexual education has to be concerned with more than just objective truths; nor should it stop with ethical considerations. It needs to be an introduction to a way of living.

But what being ‘an introduction to a way of living’ means, for schools, is that while schools might provide an important part of a person’s sexual education, that education is not necessarily initiated by them; and it is not concluded by schools, either. Sexual education is social. It involves family and community. Schools cannot expect – nor be expected – to resolve all issues that have to do with a way of living.

Of course, there will be occasions when obvious defects in family attitudes need to be corrected by schools. But this is not the ideal position to be in – not the ideal position, that is, for either the school or the pupil. Learning a way of living is like learning a language: it cannot be done very well just in the classroom.

Government is engaged in facilitating inclusive education. We are trying to instil in our young people a sense of human rights and social justice and solidarity, and respect for human diversity. The National Curriculum (NC) declares that:

"In a democratic society, all voices are not only heard but also respected. The educational community must ensure equality of access to the educational system without discrimination on the grounds of ability, gender, religion, race or socio-cultural and economic background. The educational process should cultivate within students a sense of social justice and solidarity. The educational community should actively oppose all forms of discrimination by promoting the corresponding attitudes and readiness to act." (NC, p.25).

We have already made much progress with regards to gender equality and to the eradication of discrimination with regards to persons with disability. We will gradually also progress towards equal respect for the varied sexual orientations.

Our concern about gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons comes also from our concern about the personal and social development of our children. We have become more and more aware of this aspect of development. Schools have had specific lessons in personal and social education for our students in the first two years of secondary education for the past 10 years, and we are now extending such lessons to Form V as well as downwards to the Primary education level. The NC stresses the importance of holistic education, and of personal and social development aspects of schooling. It is understood that the development of a healthy sexual identity, be it hetero- or homosexual, is one of the major challenges for adolescents. Facilitating development of a healthy sexual identity, is one important aspect of PSE.

Moreover, we are also committed to supporting persons who are victimized for being different. Though there are still stereotypic views of homosexual persons as potential abusers, we are aware that they may be indeed themselves abused and victimized. We have set up two units in the Education Division that address the issues of sexual abuse and of bullying. Gay and lesbian adolescents have sometimes been ostracized and bullied as adolescents. The creation of an ethos of respect for diversity should provide a more adequate context for the development of different sexual identities among our adolescents.

So, another of my hopes for this conference is that it will clarify further how schools, families, and society are to be involved in the sexual education of homosexual persons, and in the education of heterosexual persons about homosexuality.

In expressing this hope, I speak not just as Minister of Education, but also as a Christian Democrat. It is my conviction that the State best safeguards the values of liberty and equality by entering into partnership with various networks and organisations that value trust and personal care. It is out of such partnerships that political trust is built and the common good is explored.