Gay Rights Movement seeks fine tuning of bill

The Malta Gay Rights Movement has expressed satisfaction at the changes made to the provisions on discrimination in the Employment and Industrial Relations Bill.

The movement said it considered the explicit reference to sexual orientation in the sub-clause dealing with discrimination between classes of employment as a positive step forward.

Such an explicit mention sent a clear message that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

The movement also welcomed modifications made to the definition of "discriminatory treatment". This definition was now much broader than in the White Paper and would also cover and outlaw discrimination on the basis of an employee`s sexual orientation.

However, the movement expressed regret over the fact that even though the definition covered sexual orientation discrimination, it did not make specific reference to it.

The movement said the clauses, seen together, might lead to an anomaly in that the courts might express the opinion that, since sexual orientation discrimination was only mentioned in the provision dealing with discrimination between classes of employment, sexual orientation discrimination was only unlawful when it occurred between classes of employment.