Launch of "Gender Liberation" in Malta

On April 25, 2015, the official launch of ‘Gender Liberation,’ an NGO that works toward informing, connecting, and empowering gender-diverse communities in Malta and Gozo, took place in Valletta. The launch came a few short weeks after Malta introduced the Gender Identity Act, a law that provides transparent and readily accessible gender identity recognition procedures for trans individuals. The historic law also safeguards the bodily integrity of intersex people from the moment of birth, and protects the right to free gender expression for all the people of Malta and Gozo.

Pyt Farrugia, a student in the Dual MA Program in Conflict Resolution and Mediterranean Security, is one of the founders of Gender Liberation and currently serves as the organization’s Outreach and Advocacy Officer. Farrugia has been for several years an active member of civil society in Malta, particularly working on issues of gender equality and social justice, with a focus on the gender-variant community. He hopes that the work of the organization, which was founded under the auspices of the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, will instigate a real and sustained commitment among social constituencies in Malta to secure the wellbeing and self-determination of the trans community and all minority groups in the country.

The mission of ‘Gender Liberation’ is “to connect, inform, and empower gender-diverse, intersex and trans people in Malta and Gozo through community-led initiatives, and explore established categories of sex, gender, and sexuality in the Mediterranean region, through respectful and fruitful public dialogue.” Among other objectives, the organization focuses on “building communities, reaching out to individuals who are marginalized, and prioritizing voices that are ignored, in order to empower people who have been rendered powerless by stigma and other strategies of social exclusion.” Despite being in the first months of its existence, the organization, through its much-needed and inspired work, has managed already to make an impression on the island and has been invited by Social Dialogue and Civil Liberties Minister, Helena Dalli, to participate in the country’s LGBTIQ Consultative Council, a body that has been set up to advise the government and prepare policy and legislation addressing LGBTIQ concerns.

While speaking to a lively audience of more than 100 people, Farrugia made reference to three pillars which the Organization’s work will center on, so as to bring about positive change: the intersectionality of oppression, the difficulties inherent in a rigidly enforced gender binary, and the need for solidarity in order to strengthen the trans* community from within and build bridges to society at large. "It is our duty to make ourselves instruments and signs of the kind of society we believe must exist," said Farrugia, "to establish solidarity, and ultimately to identify with one another.... There’s nothing quite so beautiful as the moment when somebody steps outside of fear and shame, to live in the fullness of their truth."

The launch of ‘Gender Liberation’ took place in the presence of the President of Malta, Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coliero Preca, who also addressed the audience. In her speech, the President stressed the importance of the necessary work that the organization carries out and sent a powerful message, noting that “we have a lot to learn from the experiences and the bravery of the trans, intersex, and gender diverse community. I hope that through Gender Liberation... we shall send a message about the dignity of all people in Malta and Gozo, in the Mediterranean region, and in the world.”

The S-CAR community, in its turn, hails the founding of the organization and wishes the best to Farrugia and the other members of ‘Gender Liberation’ in their future efforts. More on the work of ‘Gender Liberation’ may be found on the organization’s webpage, genderliberation.com, as well as on their Facebook page: facebook.com/genderliberationNGO.

### Photo: H.E. Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta  (middle) with the Board of Gender Liberation. Photo: Stefan Stafrace Photography.