Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516098
gay Mardi Gras and the unau- thorised procession that fol- lowed it when police arrested 53 demonstrators. We were a politically incor- rect lot. Outrageous. Disdain- ful of authority. Contemptu- ous of respectability. Scornful of (most) politicians, the legal profession, the clergy, and the medical profession and its al- lies. We demanded not begged for our rights. Here and now. Tomorrow was too late. We insisted on acceptance and equality not tolerance. We did not take no for an answer. In the streets of Sydney, we took to shouting, "Not the church, not the state, gays will decide their fate!" Yet, we contin- ued to have fun. I had hoped my appearance on Pjazza Tli- eta would bring a little of that 'outrageousness' to the pro- gramme. Regrettably not. I was calm, cool, and collected by Sydney standards. Even though I was restrained, some branded me a controversialist. A compli- ment any activist would be proud to receive. Pjazza Tlieta went on air and Lou introduced me as a lawyer and a practicing homosexual. An intriguing label. Two dec- ades of practicing homosex- uality — nudge nudge, wink wink — and I have yet to grad- uate from the school of homo- sexuality! When will I ever be good at it, I wondered. The programme covered a range of topics on homo- sexuality — among them, its 'causes'. No one ever seems to bother inquiring into the causes of heterosexuality. Dun Ang Seychell tried to balance the Church's compassion with its teachings. A hard task. The psychologist did what psy- chologists do best – theorise. A self-styled representative of the Cana Movement, who al- so described herself as one of the Movement's counsellors, turned out to be neither. So, upset was the Cana Movement by her misrepresentations that it issued a statement in which it disassociated itself from everything and anything this fake representative and coun- sellor said. As Mario had predicted, the programme's great contribu- tion to the debate — if I may also say so myself — was the appearance of an unapologet- ic, out-and-proud homosexu- al Maltese-Australian lawyer who cared little about what others thought of him. Lawyers in Malta are as 're- spectable' as they are loud, and, as respectable people go, there wasn't a single homosex- ual lawyer with the courage to come out publicly. Indeed, not even a professional homosexu- al man or woman. Newspaper coverage of the programme was extensive. It went on and on. On 29 March 1994, L-Orizzont devoted two full pages to an interview with me. The programme ends and some attendant approaches me with the news that around 10 men had gathered outside the Public Broadcasting Ser- vices in Gwardamanga. They were waiting for me to leave the studio. I expected the worst, but I decided to con- front them. I was about to give them a piece of my mind but as it turned out, the men had been watching the programme nearby and decided it was time to meet and greet me. Pleas- antries were exchanged. Then, Lou, two of his assistants, and I travelled to a Paceville res- taurant for a pizza. The pa- trons, mostly families, spotted us. They were all supportive. We then moved on to Potters, a well-known gay bar in Pace- ville. The Maltese patrons, sitting at tables alongside one of the walls, were still dumb- struck. They never expected a debate like the one they had just witnessed. They greeted us with applause. The tourists standing at the bar must have wondered what was so re- markable about a gay Maltese lawyer coming out on national television. That night, almost every Maltese patron insisted on buying me a drink. The next morning, I left the guest house to catch a bus to Valletta. Not far from the guest house, an elderly wom- an approached me. She spoke only one word, "prosit". At Valletta's bus terminus, an el- derly man commended me for appearing on Pjazza Tlieta. From the looks I received that day, the programme must have been a hit for the television station. A restauranteur in- troduced me to his family, of- fered me a bottle of wine, and refused to accept any money from me. Of course, it was not all a bed of roses. It never is. A gay acquaintance from Potters decided to keep his distance, fearing his associa- tion with me would out him. A relative asked me to stop visiting him at his place of em- ployment. He also refused to continue to have coffee with me in any public place. The local Church was not about to let the matter rest. It issued a Lenten pastoral letter on "The truly Christian family", its re- sponse to Pjazza Tlieta. Who would have thought that, in 2023, a Jesuit pope — horror of horrors — would sanction the blessing of rings for same-sex couples? Some- times, you have to wait dec- ades before others understand that you are on the right side of history, but the wait is al- ways worth it. Joseph Carmel Chetcuti is a graduate of the Universities of NSW and Melbourne. He holds an MA (Hons) in Politi- cal Science, an LLB Hons, and a Licentiate in Theology. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor by the Supreme Court of Victoria and a So- licitor by the High Court of Australia. Chetcuti came out as a gay man in late 1972 and has been an activist for over five decades. He is believed to be the first Malta-born Mal- tese-Australian to have come out to the world at large. 9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 FEBRUARY 2024 OPINION I knew next to nothing about Pjazza Tlieta, possibly the most popular programme on Maltese television. I never imagined it would turn out to be a significant moment in Malta's emerging gay and lesbian history