Updated 7.20pm, adds Silvan Agius testimony
One of the people who had filed a police report over a programme promoting gay conversion therapy testified that the discussion had rekindled emotions experienced in her past when she “felt bad” about being attracted to females at a girls’ Catholic school.
Cynthia Chircop, who identified herself as queer, was testifying in criminal proceedings triggered by a report she had filed following a programme aired on PMnews Malta on April 6, 2022.
During that show, Matthew Grech, general secretary of political party ABBA and a local representative of the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC), spoke about his own personal experience as a former gay person who changed status.
Answering questions by presenters Mario Camilleri and Rita Bonnici via video link, Grech spoke about gay conversion practices, explaining his voluntary work with a gender confusion support group Core Issues Trust.
Grech, Camilleri and Bonnici were subsequently charged with breaching a ban on gay conversion therapy in terms of the Affirmation of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression Act.
They are all pleading not guilty.
During a lengthy session allocated to the case on Friday, the prosecution summoned a line of witnesses, including those who had triggered police investigations as well as the officers who had handled their reports.
When explaining how she first got to know about the programme some three weeks after it was aired, Chircop said that Sylvan Agius, one of the persons who filed a separate police report, had contacted the Malta Gay Rights Movement about the PMNews show, providing the Facebook link to the programme.
She subsequently watched the one-and-a-half-hour discussion while alone at home and later consulted the MGRM committee where she volunteered as coordinator.
Afterwards, Chircop headed to the Rabat police station to file her report. Another had been filed by Agius and Christian Attard.
Before that incident, Chircop said, she had never heard of PMNews nor about its founders and co-hosts on the show.
As for Grech, she first got to know about him when he appeared as one of the contestants on the TV show X-Factor, where he had spoken about his shift from “homosexual life”.
After that, Grech had given interviews where he spoke about his life and gay conversion practices, making reference to certain passages from the Bible which spoke against homosexuality.
Grech recalled his meeting with a person who “helped him find God”, said Chircop.
On the IFTCC website, Grech was described as a “notable ex-gay voice in Malta” offering his services as a support worker with the international organisation which assisted persons who “moved away from same-sex desires and gender confusion”.
Under cross-examination, the witness said that she had filed the report because Grech’s speech had impacted the credibility of LGBTIQ persons while speaking in favour of conversion practices, saying that there were peer-reviewed studies showing that such practices did not cause harm.
Viewers of that programme would likely look up such practices and try to get in touch with IFTCC, said Chircop, explaining why she considered that to amount to advertising.
As for the presenters, they put questions to the guest and provided him with a platform to speak and advertise those practices which included “many different psychological methods”.
“Talk therapy”, the method trusted by Grech, involved the intervention of a trusted person who would help the individual to process his memories to better understand himself.
'Programme gave Grech a free advert'
On a personal note, Chircop said that watching the PMNews programme had brought about a re-surfacing of emotions she used to experience in her youth when she would “feel bad” about being attracted to females in an all-girls school.
“Although my friends and parents supported me, I know there are vulnerable people in society who are not accepted… and there are parents who find it difficult to accept children who are gay or transgender, deeming it wrong.
“LGBTIQ people face a greater risk of suicide because of the bullying, violence, denial of identity and discrimination they face on a daily basis,” went on Chircop.
Asked by Camilleri and Bonnici’s lawyer, Emmy Bezzina whether she was aware of an invitation to the show sent by PMNews, the witness said that no invitation had been sent to the MGRM page.
“So if I invite you to a two-hour programme and give you a free hand to speak, even if I don’t agree with what you say, does that mean that I’m giving you advertising space,” Bezzina asked.
“If you invite someone to air his views, you’re giving that person an advert,” replied Chircop.
“We’re not living in a dictatorship,” rebutted the defence lawyer.
“Why are those persons [Camilleri and Bonnici] guilty? For respecting his [Grech’s] freedom of speech, a right safeguarded by the Constitution,” he pressed on.
“They gave him a platform to talk about practices that are illegal,” insisted the witness.
“We’re treading on freedom of expression just to please a circle of individuals. So will you charge me if I choose to speak about this? My foot! I’ll make 20 programmes on this and sue me if you will,” burst out Bezzina.
“So you filed the report because of the content of the interview,” stepped in Grech’s lawyer Frank Anthony Tabone.
“Yes,” came the reply.
“Did Grech say that every LGBTIQ person should resort to such therapies,” the lawyer asked.
“I honestly cannot recall,” replied Chircop.
'No attempt made to present contrasting positions'
When the case continued this afternoon, equality expert Silvan Agius recalled how he “shook” while watching the live airing of the program, having been alerted earlier on to an advert of the show which had “immediately flashed a red light”.
He said he has watched the program over and over several times trying to understand.
“I was shaking… I know what I saw. I saw someone denigrating gays and offering a solution. The solution was conversion therapy,” said Agius, who had filed a police report at the Rabat police station while in Malta on May 14, 2022.
The witness, an expert on the cabinet of EU Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, said that he had “suffered a lot” as a child because being “apparently different” made him a victim of violence.
“He [Grech] is my antithesis. While I work at EU level to promote LGBTIQ rights, Matthew works to reduce those rights.”
Agius said that during the program, Grech was given a lot of space to express himself and he practically led the discussion all the way.
Although at times the hosts challenged his statements, his replies strayed from their questions and no attempt was made to steer the subject back to the original question.
Nor was there any attempt to present contrasting positions.
Under cross-examination, Agius said that although Grech did not explain what the conversation therapy actually consisted of, viewers could link a face or a name with a particular practice.
“When watching the program, I felt degraded and dirty,” said Agius, denying that he was simply expressing a personal opinion but was in fact speaking out for all.
The manner in which LGBTIQ were portrayed and the fact that not a word was said in their favour amounted to negative publicity, he concluded.
The case continues in July.
The hearing was presided over by Magistrate Monica Vella. Inspector Roderick Attard is prosecuting. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Joe Bugeja and Jeanice Dalli are also assisting Grech. Lawyers Cedric Mifsud and Ian Barbara are appearing parte civile.