Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/457075
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2015 News MIRIAM DALLI ALTHOUGH 'male' and 'female' will re- main the only sexes recognised by the laws of Malta, the gov- ernment is set to allow individuals to choose not to declare their sex or gen- der identity on identification documents through the intro- duction of an 'X' marker. The decision comes in wake of the Gender Identity Bill tabled in parliament and a consulta- tion process that followed during which an internal discussion took place on how the current 'male' and 'female' binary possibilities could be addressed on identifica- tion documents. Silvan Agius, human rights poli- cy coordinator at the Ministry for Social Dialogue, explained that Maltese laws regulating passports and ID cards do not specif y that sex is limited to male or female. "This means that the govern- ment is in a position to amend its own public policy to welcome the proposal made during the pub- lic consultation, even before the adoption of the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Char- acteristics Act," he said. Agius also confirmed that Iden- tity Malta was already mandated to implement this change and is working on updating the forms and database. Adopting this option will not make Malta unique as a small but growing number of countries al- ready permit 'X' passports. Ger- many, on the other hand, does not include sex as a category on its ID cards. Australia, for example, has al- ready adopted such a system where passports may be issued to sex and gender diverse applicants in M (male), F (female) or X (inde- term i nate/u nspeci f ied/i ntersex). In Australia, sex reassignment surgery is not a prerequisite to is- sue a passport in a new gender and birth or citizenship certificates do not need to be amended for sex and gender diverse applicants to be issued a passport in their pre- ferred gender. The same occurs in New Zea- land. Following new amendments that are yet to come into force, option 'X' will be added to entry 6 on passport applications. According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation regulations, "sex of the holder, to be specified by use of the single initial commonly used in the language of the State where the document is issued and, if translation into English, French or Spanish is necessary, followed by a dash and the capital letter F for female, M for male, or X for unspecified." Muscat to seek Merkel's support for UN peacekeeping initiative in Libya MATTHEW VELLA PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat will meet German Chancellor An- gela Merkel today, with the future of the eurozone and the single European currency, as well as the state of the Middle East and the Libyan conflict, on the agenda for the two leaders. Muscat will be accompanied by foreign minister George Vella and Labour MP Silvio Schembri. It will be the Maltese prime minister's first visit at the Federal Chancellery, with military hon- ours. As part of a working lunch, the Chancellor and the Prime Minister will discuss European policy, economic policy and inter- national issues. Muscat will tell Merkel that Germany should spearhead inter- national efforts to mobilise a UN peacekeeping initiative. "The same way Germany is as- suming strong diplomatic lead- ership over Ukraine, we will say: Don't ignore the south because the problem is going to come to a head," Muscat told the DPA press association ahead of the visit. Muscat is to urge Germany to lobby for UN intervention in Lib- ya, stressing that Malta and Italy are on the same wavelength on the matter. Muscat will also dis- cuss the eurozone situation with Merkel in the wake of an anti- austerity government elected in cash-strapped Greece. "We need to analyse the rules we have so far. We are against rigidity but in favour of fiscal discipline and flexibility. We need rules which make common sense." Muscat's delegation will also meet members of the Maltese- German parliamentary friendship group, namely Marlene Mortler (CDU/CSU), Halina Wawzyniak (Die Linke) and Valerie Wilms (Greens). Muscat will also address an audi- ence at the Friedrich Ebert Foun- dation, on the 'Challenges for the development of a social, just and open society in the European Un- ion'. His lecture will be followed by an address by German minister of state for Europe, Michael Roth. Angela Merkel is currently in Budapest, where several visits by foreign dignitaries – Russian Pres- ident Vladimir Putin follows on 17 February – will put the country led by Viktor Orban in the limelight. Critics are expecting Merkel to speak to Orban over his authori- tarian policies. Both leaders hail from the centre-right family of the European People's Party. At the top of the agenda with the German chancellor are EU sanc- tions against Russia over Ukraine, which Orban opposes, and heavy Hungarian taxes on German com- panies. The Chancellor has also ruled out the prospect of Greece se- curing further debt cuts from its creditor nations, potentially putting the country's new leftist government on a collision course with Brussels. Her uncompromising stance will not be welcomed in Athens, where the new ruling party, Syriza, in- sists that it will make good on its promises to halve the country's €320 billion debt obligations and scrap a range of swingeing budget measures that were imposed in ex- change for the loans. 1S\b`S>]W\bB`W_2c\9O`[ 0W`YW`YO`O0g^Oaa0W`YW`YO`O 09@'!%;OZbO >V]\S(!#$ ! "!!" ESP(eeeRW[SQVS\bQ][ 3[OWZ(OZO\.RW[SQVS\bQ][ Male, Female or X: the new gender options on identification documents Joseph Muscat will be discussing Libya and the eurozone with Angela Merkel today Male, Female or X: the new gender options on identification documents RAF aircraft land in Malta Royal Air Force aircraft – an airbus A330 tanker and four Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoons – landed in Malta late yesterday. A government spokesperson told MaltaToday that the landings had nothing to do with the current crisis in Libya or IS offensive. "The request for diplomatic clearance from the UK was made early in January for aircraft to land in Malta in transit to a third country. The necessary clearance to land in Malta in February was issued mid-January," the government spokesperson told MaltaToday. The aircraft will leave for the Gulf today. Photography by Ray Attard