Ceremony

Are Civil Unions equivalent to Marriage? 

They say love knows no bounds, and what better way to honour such love than with the seal of marriage? Until recently, however, such a commitment was only possible for couples composed of a man and a woman, essentially alienating couples - including those in long, loving and committed relationships - made up of two men or two women. All this changed when a Civil Unions Bill was approved by parliament in April 2014, which granted same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as heterosexual couples, without calling it ‘marriage’.

According to statistics obtained from the Public Registry, from April 2014 till October 2015, 70 Maltese and five Gozitan couples had applied to enter a civil union. Of these, 56 Maltese and five Gozitan couples participated in a ceremony to celebrate their civil union, and were registered accordingly. Dr Carla Camilleri, assistant director at Aditus – a human rights Non-Governmental Organisation – explains that, before the Civil Unions Act, there were no laws that recognised or regulated the relationship between same-sex couples. With the passing of the Act, formal civil unions and the formalisation of the relationship between persons of the same sex were made possible.

“The importance of legislating civil unions, besides the state’s recognition of the right to marry for persons of the same sex, was to remove the discrimination that existed between heterosexual couples that were married and persons that were in a same-sex relationship, such as the legal limbo same-sex couples and their children faced,” says Dr Camilleri.

In a marriage between heterosexual couples, a long list of very important rights and obligations is incurred once the couple sign the marriage contract. “With the introduction of the Civil Unions Act, the same was made possible for couples entering a civil union, therefore granting automatic rights and obligations to couples and their children. These rights range across the board and include property rights, pension rights and employment rights, among others.”

And so, it begs the question: is a civil union equivalent to marriage? Dr Camilleri helps clear things up, explaining that “the Civil Unions Act specifically states that a civil union shall have the corresponding effects and consequences in law of civil marriage where applicable. In effect, the law is the closest to marriage as it can get without it being called marriage, although our ultimate aim would be marriage equality also in name, and not just in effect.”

The introduction of civil unions was a quantum leap forward for Maltese society, and for the gay community at large, but it shouldn’t stop there. Dr Camilleri feels that the Embryo Protection Act, being only open to “prospective parents”, defined as “two persons of the opposite sex who are united in marriage, or (…) who are in a stable relationship with each other”, is openly discriminatory and denies access to medical services purely on the basis of sexual orientation. “The Act introduces unreasonable and unwarranted intrusions into physical integrity, in its criminalisation of egg or sperm donation. Therefore whilst acknowledging that there are serious ethical considerations, we also urge the government to undergo a thorough revision of the Act to bring it in line with current legislative provisions and human rights standards.”

Read the story of a couple who recently tied the knot in a civil union.