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maltatoday | TUESDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2018 17 maltatoday MaltaToday, MediaToday Co. Ltd, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: MATTHEW VELLA DEPUTY EDITOR: PAUL COCKS Tel: (356) 21 382741-3, 21 382745-6 Website: www.maltatoday.com.mt E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt EDITORIAL maltatoday | TUESDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2018 17 22 October 2008 Joanne to go all the way in her fight to get married Joanne Cassar will today present a Consti- tutional Court case against the government of Malta, after the Civil Court last May pre- vented her from marrying her male partner on the grounds that she was "still a man", de- spite having undergone gender reassignment therapy. Describing today's proceedings as "the last stage before the European Court of Human Rights", the Malta Gay Rights Movement has announced it will be collecting signatures outside the law courts in Valletta this morning in solidarity with Cassar. "It takes a lot of courage to stand up for your rights, like Joanne is doing," MGRM co-ordinator Gaby Calleja told MaltaToday. "Our initiative is more a show of support than anything else; we want her to know that she is not alone." The case goes back to 2006, when Cassar – who underwent a complex and expensive pro- cedure to change her sex from male to female, and whose birth certificate has since been amended accordingly – was refused permis- sion to marry on the basis that the Marriage Act prohibited unions between persons of the same gender. Cassar took the Marriage Registrar to court, and on February 12, 2007, after noting that the proposed union did not contravene any provision of the Marriage Act, Mr Justice Gino Camilleri upheld her request and ordered the director of Public Registry to issue the mar- riage banns. But the marriage registrar appealed, and in his decision to overturn the ruling last May, Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef observed that while the Marriage Act defined marriage as a union "between a man and a woman", Maltese law offered no legal definition of either gender. The court therefore took into account vari- ous definitions, including an affidavit signed by the former chairman of the parliamentary bio-ethics committee, Dr Michael Axiak, who wrote: "after gender reassignment therapy, a person will have remained of the same sex as before the operation." Mr Justice Micallef also noted that Cassar's birth certificate, allowing a change of name and gender, was only intended to protect the right to privacy and to avoid embarrassment. He therefore upheld the marriage registrar's request, and annulled the marriage banns. Afterwards, Ms Cassar expressed bitter dis- appointment at the ruling. "One court allowed me to get married but another took it away from me," she said. The ruling may have been a disappointment, but it came as no surprise to the MGRM's Gabi Calleja, who confirmed that persons in Joanne Cassar's predicament – commonly re- ferred to as "transsexuals", although the term is sometimes considered derogatory – gener- ally face harsher discrimination than other sexual orientation minorities. "Research shows that persons who under- went gender reassignment encounter more violence, including extreme violence, than gays," she said. "They also have a harder time finding employment. There is unfortunately still a lot of ignorance on the subject." MaltaToday 10 years ago A pleasantly boring Budget Editorial EDWARD Scicluna's seventh Budget comes with no surprises. It pretty much follows in the footsteps of the previous six. It is the second consecutive Budget in which no new taxes were introduced and no existing taxes or tariffs were increased. The Finance Minister has managed to turn government's annual accounting exer- cise into a pleasantly boring event that falls squarely within an economic vision already spelt out in the Labour Party's electoral manifesto. Scicluna's budgets have, from day one, been a balancing act between honouring electoral commitments and ensuring the country's finances are kept in check. There have been no surprises really. It's been a question of which electoral com- mitments will make it into the Budget and which will be postponed to the next years. It is probably how budgets should be – im- plementing government's economic vision by making sure that policy announcements form part of a plan that also takes into ac- count circumstances that may crop up throughout the year. Budget 2019 is no different. While still aiming for a surplus, which appears to have become the new normal, the Budget for next year places an emphasis on the lower middle classes and targets the side effects of strong economic growth. Government has set itself the lofty com- mitment to ensure that no child living in a household with at least one working adult remains in a state of deprivation. While the increase in children's allowance for those who earn €20,000 and less is a positive step in this direction, government may have to provide a stronger impetus in the years ahead to achieve its aim. Other measures such as the increased outlay on disability allowances and medi- cal assistance benefits, higher pensions and other targeted measures will help alleviate the more vulnerable in society. The second tranche of the promised in- come tax refund will come into force next year. This measure benefits those on the lower end of the income scale more than it does those who earn more. Next year will also see those on the mini- mum wage jump up the salary ladder as a result of the agreement reached between unions, employers and the government in 2017. These measures will not be life-changing for the more vulnerable categories but they will certainly help spread the wealth be- ing generated across a wider section of the population. But the Budget has also targeted the hous- ing sector through measures aimed at help- ing people over a certain age join the home ownership ladder and support those who rent. The government will be scrapping the means test for rent subsidy and replacing it with a series of benchmarks. The subsidy will also increase. This signals the government's willingness to address this problem that impacts a small cohort of people but which has the potential of being a social disruptor if left unchecked. From a macro-economic perspective, the Budget lays bare government's direction to target the digital innovation sector. The creation of Tech.mt, an agency, to promote Malta as a hub of disruptive technologies, and the commitment to attract eSport events, are signs of government's ambitious plans. But as Malta targets innovation, the in- vestment in infrastructure is primarily linked to the development of new roads and the overhaul of existing ones. While this investment has long been overdue, the over- all vision does little to target a modal shift in travel. Free use of buses will be extended to those aged 14 and 15, and government is commit- ted to create sea ferry landing places in St Paul's Bay, St Julian's and Ta' Xbiex. These are positive measures but on their own will do little to create the necessary change to convince people to use their private car less. The government appears reluctant to fo- cus on plans for an underground mass trans- port system for the foreseeable future, which jars with its ambitious drive in other sectors of the economy. If Malta wants to target quality, which is what Scicluna has set as his target for 2019, looking at a mass transport system in an earnest way is increasingly becoming a ne- cessity. With the economy performing well, public finances under control and national debt-to- GDP ratio at its lowest level in decades, Sci- cluna has managed to keep a steady hand on a ship that continues to sail in calm waters. More importantly, the overall fiscal posi- tion gives him the space to manoeuvre if the sea becomes choppy in a year that will see the UK exit the EU and Italy playing the tru- ant child in the Eurozone.