“I am very proud to be from a country that has from now on the most comprehensive and respectful laws when it comes to the rights of trans and intersex people. No one should be declared mentally ill, undergo forced surgery or [be] forced to go through a divorce, in order to be recognised as who they truly are.”
— Maltese Member of the Intergroup on LGBTI Rights, Miriam Dalli MEP.

Kudos to Ms. Dalli for promoting these humanitarian views — which we have long waited to hear from the mouths of government officials! — and to all Maltese officials who played a role in passing the new legislation, particularly ally Silvan Agius. Agius, formerly of ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association), brought intersex community leaders together by organizing ILGA’s International Intersex Forums (I-V), a global gathering of intersex activists, and invited Maltese MEP Helena Dalli to the 3rd Forum, held in Malta, to hear our concerns. (OII-USA’s Viloria co-organized the 3rd Forum with Agius, committed ally Ruth Baldacchino, and fellow intersex activists Mauro Cabral of Argentina and Mani Mitchell of New Zealand.)

Malta’s new Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act sets a new world precedent on intersex people’s legal right to bodily integrity and physical autonomy — just what our community has always demanded. We thank the government of Malta for being such a tremendous allies and giving future generations of intersex people the right to be who they want to be, and encourage U.S government officials to do the same!

-See more articles about Malta’s new legislation at:

— http://iglhrc.org/content/iglhrc-hails-landmark-law-malta-gender-identity-expression-and-protections-intersex-childrened
— https://www.intersexequality.com/2432/press-release-intersex-rights-victory-in-europe
— http://www.lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/malta-adopts-ground-breaking-gender-identity-gender-expression-and-sex-characteristics-law
— http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/malta-now-has-one-best-trans-and-intersex-laws-world020415
— http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/04/02/malta-becomes-first-country-to-outlaw-surgery-on-intersex-babies/
— http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/gay-rights-malta-idUSL6N0WY1UC20150401
— http://oiieurope.org/press-release-oii-europe-applauds-maltas-gender-identity-gender-expression-and-sex-characteristics-act/