A little bit more on Malta and how it shows trans rights can make for dodgy bedfellows. We know now that Maltese polticians, desperate to whitewash their country's reputation as the most corrupt country in the EU that didn't share a land border with Albania...
2./ ..alighted on trans rights in 2013 as a convenient LGBT whitewash. It's astonishing how quickly this worked. By 2014 it was a Maltese lawyer, and MEP, Deborah Schembri whom the European Parliament sent on a fact-finding mission to investigate Scotland's trans failings...
3./.. Here's Deborah's travel plans being announced. Don't you like the word..."rapporteur"? Ill-informed, pompous nosey-parker just doesn't have the same ring. assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/News/Ne…
4./ Schembri went to Scotland to meet our old mates, Scottish Trans Alliance. It was an important time for them. 6 months before her visit Stonewall announced it would focus almost exclusively on trans rights; putting wind in the sails of the trans lobby. theguardian.com/world/2014/jul…
5./ Schembri didn't meet any women's organisations in Scotland. Of course she didn't. Flash forward to 2015 and who authors and moves the resolution that's adopted by the European Parliament on proposed changes to trans rights? Deborah Schembri herself who manages in the intro...
6./ ...to name-check only one country as a trans paragon of anti-discrimination, you guessed it Malta, of which she says "in the case of Malta, such prohibition has even been included in the Constitution." Natch. Here's that Draft Resolution in full: assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xr…
7./ Malta was being presented as a trans utopia that Scotland could only admire from afar (despite it having no abortion rights and Malta only introducing trans rights in 2013 anyway). What's important to note is the evidence she cites. Or more to the point how paltry it is.
8./ Clause 1.4 in the intro makes clear how little research Schembri had done and is worth quoting: "This memorandum takes into account the exchange of views with Ms Julia Ehrt, Executive Director of Transgender Europe, which was organised on 2 June 2014 by the Committee..
9./ and the findings of my fact-finding visit to the United Kingdom in December 2014". That my friends is the total evidence Deborah cites. The Resolution was quickly passed by the EU Parliament with minimal debate, and though not binding it has since been constantly cited as..
10./ ...an important legal benchmark by LGBT organisations including not least Scottish Trans Alliance. So let's get this right: a tiny nation desperate to push a progressive smokescreen gets its MEP to compile minimal information to back its agenda. She produces a report..
11./...that gets waived through by a Parliament that in 2015 knew next to nothing about the pros and cons. This report is then used to drive the agenda of the few lobby groups she consulted who actually stand to benefit. Sound dodgy? That's not the least of it. Let's find...
12./ ...out more about Deborah Schembri. She's been mired in controversy for years, most recently for receiving a string of sinecures from her close confidante the Maltese PM Joseph Muscat (in trouble ever since a certain car bomb). timesofmalta.com/articles/view/…
13./ But that was hardly her first brush with scandal. As Minister she availed herself (gratis perchance?) of the state's official planning consultant as her architect for a flash home that required a historic house to be bulldozed. In fact Schembri... daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2017/01/prime-…
14./ ..was one of the key targets of journalist Daphne Galizia (blown up in that car bomb, it's alleged, by gangsters with links to Schembri's party and government). Galizia criticised a slew of suspicious sounding development deals Schembri approved. daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2015/05/debora…
15./ When her leader was mentioned in Panama Papers, Schembri fiercely defended him and after sex scandals involving colleagues (incl them visiting brothels while on state visits) her response was to suggest new tougher privacy laws to protect them. maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/…
16./ Does all this matter? Well, shouldn't we expect the person who creates a new benchmark for trans rights to have ethical awareness? Doesn't the judgement matter of someone introducing guidelines that are now being used to undermine women's rights? Imagine a gender critical..
17./ ...feminist politician had a track record like this. I'm sure the trans lobby would pull their punches. But it gets worse. When her name sake Keith Schembri was recently accused of involvement in the killing of Galizia, she denounced his critics. maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/…
18./ And worst of all, just a day after Galizia was blown up Schembri warned (jaw-droppingly)"freedom of expression must not be abused... Those who may feel they do not have legal remedy may take the law into their own hands” independent.com.mt/articles/2017-…
19./ Malta's internecine elite is so corrupt it's hard to describe the interlinking scandals, the family connections, the abuse of power and patronage. Galizia's murder wasn't even the only one linked to this cess-pool of gangsterism. maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/…
20./ So the next time some trans activist bleats nonsense about the gender critical movement being linked to the Religious Right, remind them of that European pioneer of "gender identity" the murderous money-pit that is Malta, and its shining exemplar..Deborah Schembri.
