Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/668635
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL 2016 News Christian conservatives fear 'dangerous' equality bill promoting 'LGBT agenda' New lobby group warns of government plans to 'indoctrinate children with LGBT agenda' and 'interfere with parental rights to educate their children on personal sexual ethics' TIM DIACONO A new group that plans to lobby for Christian conservative inter- ests has made its first major move – opposing a draft law intended to promote equality. The 'New Christian Conserva- tives' – formed by Gift of Life president Paul Vincenti – have warned that the two draft bills will interfere with parental rights to educate children and "indoc- trinate children with an explicit LGBT agenda". The bills envisage a clampdown on institutional discrimination on the basis of age, sex, belief, dis- ability, gender expression, gender identity, race, ethnic origin, ma- ternity, and sexual orientation. Anti-discrimination fines will be doubled to a maximum of €5,000, and a Human Rights Commission will be established – tasked with both following up on discrimination complaints and investigating cases on its own initiative. Malta Gay Rights Movement president Gabi Calleja recently said that the passing of the law was one of her next three lobby- ing challenges. However, it looks likes she will be challenged by Vincenti, who has taken issue with a clause in the equality bill that would re- quire schools to "promote di- versity and respect towards all persons regardless of whether they fall under any or more of the pro- tected characteristics". Vincenti claims that this amounts to gov- ernment demanding that society promote and respect the "LG- BT+ agenda". Attempts by Malta- Today to contact Vin- centi to get his views of this "agenda" proved futile. However, an online petition against the bills that had drawn 750 signatures at the time of writing warns that the agenda is "innocence-destroying and sexualizing" "Serious questions are being raised by parents about the rush to implement these noxious pro- grammes," he wrote in the peti- tion against the bills. "Is this what Maltese parents and other concerned citizens want for our young, impressionable children? To become guinea pigs in a sex- ual indoctrination experiment? "Why would the Labour ad- ministration be so reckless with Malta's children? Why is Joseph Muscat's government promoting a recipe for the sexual and psy- chological abuse of children – es- pecially when these terrible bills were not part of his party's manifesto for government?" Vincenti added that the bills amount to a "gross violation" of the right of children to have their innocence protected and to a "gross impo- sition" on the rights of parents to educate their children about personal sexual ethics and human nature. "The parents, not the state, are the primary educators of their children. The state must not be allowed to preach this dangerous version of reality to school-children." Who are the 'New Christian Conservatives'? It is a Facebook group set up last month by Vincenti with the intention of uniting conserva- tive Christians into a lobby group strong enough to inf luence party policies. He does not intend to back ei- ther Labour or PN, whom he has accused of "bending over back- wards to shower the homosexual movement with promises", but rather throw his weight behind a third party that could challenge the status quo. Other than LGBT+ rights, Vin- centi has also come out against euthanasia, abortion, embryo freezing and government plans to decriminalise the vilification of Roman Catholicism. "As a Christian who cares about my country, I also care that we are losing our voices on values, that we are being relegated into second and third class citizens, and that our vote is being taken for granted," he says in a video comment. "The voice of Chris- tians has been relegated into the second and third division, which is unacceptable, unwise and dan- gerous for the country. When values are thrashed and new values are invested, when rights become wrongs, and wrongs be- come rights, then we're in trou- ble…" Paul Vincenti is seeking to unite conservative Christians into an influential lobby group