Alex Mangion and Angela Coleiro are the first two transgender people who will be contesting a national election under the PN ticket, a party that has not always been sensitive to LGBTIQ+ issues. Sarah Carabott met with the two. 

‘It was painful, a huge mental struggle’

Soon after Alex Mangion became the first transgender elected official in 2015, he was insulted in Valletta by a man who had been harassing him every time he entered the capital.

Alex, aged 14, with his late father John

“He started shouting at me, insulted my family and all my relatives, saying that my name had been on the wrong side of the local council ballot sheet and that I should be thanking the Labour Party for my rights.

“Everyone was just staring at us, so I asked him to step to the side to discuss our differences... nowadays we greet each other whenever we cross paths.”

Mangion has often had to defend his political choices because of his identity. And it was his identity that introduced him to politics.

When the PN abstained on the Civil Unions Act in 2014, he could no longer keep quiet about civil rights and addressed the party at a convention.

“I was not angry, but I was determined to make a point. I think speaking about my reality as a transgender man opened the eyes of many. I was received better than I had anticipated, and soon after I was asked to contest the local council elections.”

The first time Alex spoke up - at PN's 2014 general convention

Mangion was elected to the Attard council with the third-highest vote tally of any of the candidates. Four years later he contested the election again and was elected deputy mayor.

But not everyone had welcomed his candidature. Some had even told him he did not deserve to have his name on his ballot sheet as he had not even made up his mind about his gender.

Mangion, now 30, ‘came out’ to his parents as a young teenager.

I explain that transgender people can be straight or gay. We need a national educational campaign

“I remember they mourned their daughter. This is a very normal process, and it is important to go through it to be able to accept the person for who they are.”

His parents were the ones who eventually backed him up in his decision to enter the political arena.

Alex proposing to Josianne at Zakopane, Poland, 2017.

With no background in politics, getting his name out in the public arena was a struggle.

“The people I met during house visits were a mixed bag: some welcomed me with open arms, others challenged my identity and ideas. There were insults and gossip.

“Some referred to me in the female gender, but this was not done out of spite. Of course, I did not stay correcting them – they had welcomed me in their home and eventually started seeing me as the male that I always was.

“It was painful, and a huge mental struggle – I recall countless nights lying awake in bed, wondering why I was born this way and whether I should go ahead with the campaign.”

Although he managed to ensure his name appeared as Alex on the ballot sheet, the tag issued at the counting hall showed his previous name, a name he has buried in the past.

He believes these harsh experiences helped him gain closure over his own identity, with his election confirming that people are elected irrespective of their identity.

Mangion no longer replies to homophobic and transphobic comments on social media but would rather discuss such issues face to face. And while the insults might have decreased, there is still a lot to be done when it comes to awareness of LGBTIQ+ issues.

Alex, Josianne and Cooper

“I’ve often been told ‘my children are like you… they are gay’… and I explain that transgender people can be straight or gay. We need a national educational campaign to normalise such issues.”

Mangion believes his and Angela Coleiro’s candidature in the upcoming national elections are proof that the party is evolving.

He will be contesting the 11th district, home to PN strongholds including party leader Bernard Grech and conservative MP Edwin Vassallo: “I am Alex the website builder, Alex the husband, Alex the young politician. I do not just raise awareness about LGBTIQ+ issues but I also work hard on raising awareness about the environment we live in, the deteriorating mental health of many, and the importance of a digital presence for businesses.”

‘I was reborn after 24 years trapped in myself’

Over the past 40 years, Angela Coleiro has seen political violence and transphobia shift from the streets to social media.

Angela in her late 20s

As things became more unbearable over recent years, she decided to do something about it and throw her name in the hat for a role that could see her change this country’s policies.

“After 35 years of hosting TV and radio programmes of a non-political nature on practically all local stations, I started voicing my concern about political issues on social media.

“I soon realised there are several people who are similarly bothered by the uncontrolled construction boom and the way the economy is growing off the back of imported people, so I decided to go all the way and contest the election.”

Coleiro, whose career includes a stint with the team behind the politico-satirical show Aħn’aħna jew M’aħniex, had been an active PN supporter in the 1980s.

“In my previous life – before the complete transition to Angela – I was a member of the PN’s youth section MŻPN and also compered Independence Day activities.

“At Tal-Barrani and elsewhere I was beaten with a club and suffered teargas. In the 1980s, the tension and violence was in your face, and I believe that the same tension and violence we experienced back then has resurfaced in a more subtle manner.”

Angela with Bernard Grech during a recent party activity in Zurrieq

Coleiro, 53, also drew similari­ties between today’s Nationalist Party and that of the 1980s.

“In the early 1970s the PN was a tired party until Eddie Fenech Adami, an unknown fami­ly man and lawyer, took the helm and helped the party rise to government. I’m not comparing Bernard Grech to Fenech Adami, but I believe that the party is at the beginning of a similar journey it took in the 1980s.”

I think it is high time several PL supporters decide whether they truly or conveniently are in favour of civil rights

Coleiro’s candidature has irked several, who, instead of criticising her opinions as they would with her colleagues, have resorted to attacking her identity.

Sadly, this is not something new for Coleiro: “I have always felt like a girl and a woman; however, there was a time when I looked like a boy, and eventually a young man. I was insulted and harassed in public.

“When I was in my 20s, psychia­trists and psychologists told me that there was nothing wrong with me and, if I so wished, I could go for surgery. They suggested spending two years living as Angela 24/7, before committing to the life-changing procedure.”

Up until then, Coleiro would find every excuse to dress up in women’s clothes – whether at carnival or a party.

Angela with her mother Pearl

“The day I decided to never look back I threw away my ‘male’ clothes, gave away my perfume and tore most of my photos. I felt a huge satisfaction. I needed to buy a whole new wardrobe, start taking hormone pills and let my hair grow.

“But most importantly, I was being reborn after 24 years of being trapped in myself. It was my genesis.”

It was initially not easy on her father, but he eventually became one of her biggest supporters, and although her mother did not always understand her, she always supported her.

Coleiro underwent gender reassignment surgery aged 26, some 10 years after ‘coming out’ as Angela. It took her another 10 years to pay her friend who had lent her money for the surgery, and save enough to open a court case to change her name and gender on official documents, including her birth certificate.

State-funded surgery is one of the issues that Coleiro hopes to be able to put on the national agenda. The surgery, which costs thousands of euros and is done abroad, is not cosmetic, and is usually recommended to people who suffer gender dysphoria.

Angela with her 'nephew' Ollie and 'niece' Sally, before another fox terrier, Trudy, joined the family

Despite such hardships and the transphobia that Coleiro has had to face, she does not want anyone to pity her.

“I hate it when transgender people are portrayed as victims. It is true that I suffered – psychologically, to study, to find a job, to find money to carry out the surgery – but everyone suffers one way or another, and transgender people would be doing a disservice to themselves if they try to project themselves as victims.”

Calling for a national education campaign that would ‘normalise’ LGBTIQ+ issues, she acknowledged the civil rights reform brought about by the Labour Party.

However, she insists, there is a difference between civil rights on paper and the reality that people within the LGBTIQ+ community are living.

“I think it is high time that several PL supporters decide whether they truly or conveniently are in favour of civil rights. I am still often attacked on social media for showing support to the PN. I have never been attacked by PN supporters, even when I spoke up in favour of PL in the past.”

But raising awareness about homophobia and transphobia is just a small part of what Coleiro wants to bring to the party. She will be contesting the ninth and 10th districts and hopes to be able to focus on the media arts and culture sector, the welfare of the environment and animal rights if she is elected to parliament.