15/09/2025 Equality and Non-Discrimination | LGBTI
Speakers at a parliamentary conference in Malta have urged changes in law and policy to ensure rainbow families enjoy equal rights across all 46 member states of the Council of Europe – and warned of the need to counter skepticism about their rights.
Legal and NGO experts at the conference, organised in the context of Malta Pride, pointed to good examples of laws that guarantee legal parental recognition for rainbow families, giving them access to services and other basic protections, and urged cross-border recognition of these rights. Participants raised in or parenting as part of rainbow families also bore testimony to their experiences.
Welcoming participants, the Deputy Speaker of Malta’s Chamber of Representatives Hon. David Agius underlined that guaranteeing human rights was essential, noting that society benefited from greater equality: “inclusion is not a zero-sum game”.
For her part, the head of Malta’s PACE delegation Naomi Cachia (Malta, SOC) noted Malta’s speedy legal progress in the field, but warned that advocates of equal rights for rainbow families would need to remain strong in the face of growing skepticism: “Progress can never be taken for granted. We are not asking for much: we are asking for dignity, respect and recognition.”
PACE’s General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI persons Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo (Monaco, ALDE) pointed out that rainbow families exist everywhere in Europe, yet their rights differ. She called for “champions” in every parliament, every ministry and every community to press for laws, policies and programmes that would allow these families to live in security.
Former EU Equality Commissioner Dr Helena Dalli hailed the power of collective action: “We are not just discussing rights, we are celebrating the resilience of families who demand nothing less than full equality.” Equality, she said, had become “a cross-border imperative” for Europe.
Malta’s Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms and Equality Hon. Rebecca Buttigieg highlighted what she described as recent “co-ordinated assaults on equality”. Responsible for carrying forward Malta’s strong record on equality legislation, she declared: “Being neutral is not an option.”
The conference was organised by the Parliamentary Platform for the rights of LGBTI persons in Europe, the Committee on Equality and Non-discrimination of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Maltese Delegation to PACE, under the auspices of Malta’s Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.