From today, Malta is officially hosting EuroPride, the pan-European event dedicated to LGBTIQ pride. It will be a mistake to promote this event as simply a platform to show that we ‘tolerate’ minorities.

Instead, it should be a celebration of the improvements in attitudes towards LGBTIQ communities – as well as serve as a stark reminder of the dangerous intolerances that still lurk beneath the rainbow-coloured festivities and jubilant parades.

Maltese society has often had to adapt to changing colonial regimes that impacted our culture and often helped to mitigate the insular, narrow-mindedness that is endemic in small island communities.

Malta has seen dramatic changes in the last two decades, from membership of the European Union, which opened doors and minds, to the introduction of same-sex marriage in 2017.

The pro-diversity legislation enacted in the last decade was an important step forward. Still, the real evidence of our tolerance will come when it will no longer be necessary for minorities to fight for their rights in public events.

Changes in legislation to assert the rights of everyone, irrespective of their sexual orientation, will never be enough to stop disparities and ensure that tolerant behaviour becomes the norm in our society.

Of course, not everyone accepts that people with different sexual orientations should enjoy the rights that heterosexual people have always had. The country’s solid Catholic traditions may have militated against a culture of tolerance in the past. Still, today, the Church’s narrative on the sexual orientation of people is changing, as evidenced by the comments made by the pope, who argues that, in the eyes of God, all people are equal.

Cultural changes do not happen overnight; many will continue to stick to their traditional and conservative views on sexual orientation rights.

Education is the key towards dismantling long-held prejudices and initiatives should be aimed at fostering inclusivity and empathy in schools, workplaces and communities.

Still, young generations are increasingly wholeheartedly embracing the values of tolerance and accepting minority rights. Ultimately, only genuine cultural changes will blur the demarcation lines that artificially distinguish one sector of the community from another.

EuroPride also offers Malta a chance to change its image. After various instances when the country was projected in a bad light in the international media due to public governance failures, corruption and the murder of a journalist, this year’s EuroPride events should help to project the island in a new light. We must show Europe that the Maltese people are a worldly and open-minded people who respect the rights of minorities.

The international media is giving positive coverage to this year’s EuroPride events with researched comments on the country’s tolerance records. The New York Times, for instance, comments that Malta has a long history towards LGBTIQ people, going back at least as far as 1733 when a court ruled in favour of a transgender person who had filed a petition to be recognised as male.

Malta may have transitioned to a more liberal sexual-orientations culture relatively fast. However, neighbouring communities, in North Africa and the Middle East especially, still struggle with LGBTIQ human rights issues. By using this platform to raise awareness about international LGBTIQ+ issues, we can inspire positive change worldwide.

This year’s EuroPride will be the 29th edition, with an aptly chosen theme ‘Equality from the Heart’. Each one of us, irrespective of our sexual orientation, should make sure that this celebration is a success.