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Outlaw LGBT Discrimination Or No Membership In EU Euopean Body Says
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
May 11, 2003
3:08 p.m. ET/+5GMT/-3PT
(Malta) The government of the tiny island state of Malta has been told it must ban workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians if it wants to join the European Union.
Although Maltese labor laws ban discrimination in principle the laws does not specifically mention sexuality. Malta is one of a number of countries seeking admission to a wider European Union.
An EU directive that bans LGBT discrimination says gays and lesbians are at a higher risk than other groups. The same directive prohibits discrimination on grounds of age, disability, race, and religion or belief.
“There is a need to have all grounds covered by the directive to be spelt out specifically in Maltese law,” said the head of the European Commission Employment and Social Affairs Directorate General, Odile Quintin.
The government has made a number of law changes to bring it into line with EU standards but Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi says the government is refusing to adopt the full directive, arguing that existing legislation is enough to ban job discrimination against gays and lesbians.
“All forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation or on age, ethnic origin or racial grounds are illegal and the interpretation given by the Attorney General of the law that has been passed in Parliament is that the clause as drafted covers all these areas,” Dr Gonzi said.
The Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM) has been lobbying for the last year and a half to get labor laws amended in line with EU directives. The movement points to a survey it conducted last year, 40 per cent of gay and lesbian respondents said they were harassed at work.
Some countries like Britain, already members of the EU, are in the process of changing their laws to provide workplace security, Most member states already have protections.
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