Joanne Cassar Gets Married In Malta!

The landmark Araguz v. Delgado marriage case here in Texas has finally been resolved, but one of the cases I was watching in Malta that involved trans woman Joanne Cassar was settled after an 8 year battle that took it on the verge of being heard by the European Court of Human Rights and it becoming an issue in a 2013 Maltese national election that resulted in the ruling party getting swept out of power.

After her successful nearly eight year battle in which the Maltese government fighting her was ousted at the polls and the new one settled the case, Joanne Cassar could finally exhale.

She also got to watch as a nondisclosed Maltese trans woman followed the trail Cassar blazed and made history to became the first to get married in their island nation.

So what has happened since Cassar won her long marriage fight?  She finally got the opportunity to walk down the aisle and say 'I do" to her new husband on March 31

Cassar got married to her husband Kurstin on that date, and as you probably guessed she was thrilled that the day she'd fought so hard to make happen is finally a reality.

Say hello to Mrs. Joanne Sciberras Edwards, and hope that she and her hubby have a long, happy and healthy marriage.

Joanne Cassar Honored In Malta

I've documented in these electronic pages the seven year long battle of girl like us Joanne Cassar to have her right to marry recognized by a Maltese government that fought her every step of the way. 

It was a fight that eventually ended up in the European Court of Human Rights, became an election issue in the March  2013 Maltese national elections and with the change of government ended in her favor.

The new Labour government as part of the ECHR case settlement with Cassar introduced legislative changes in Maltese law that recognizes the full human rights of a trans person in the gender they transition to, including the right to marry. 

December 13 was Republic Day in Malta, the day in 1974 that substantial constitutional changes occurred that transformed the former British colony to an independent nation.   On that day Maltese citizens are given Republic Day Honours for their contributions to Maltese society, and this year's group of Gieh ir Repubblika recipients includes Joanne Cassar.

Joanne Cassar was honored for her perseverance since 2006 in this marriage fight, which resulted in not only a personal victory for her, but in the process made Malta a fairer society.

Congratulations Joanne on this well deserved honor and your battle that not only was a victory for you and other Maltese trans people, but will possibly have an impact on the rest of the world when it comes to trans marriage rights cases

Maltese Parliament Debating Trans Marriage Civil Code Changes

As part of the deal they struck with Joanne Cassar in order to end the European Court of Human Rights case she brought against them in June 2011,  Malta's parliament began debate on amending that nation's Civil Code so that post operative trans people would be considered as individuals of the acquired gender identity with full rights including the right to marry.

Once the amendments to the Civil Code pass, and the Opposition party has no problem with that as of now, transpeople in Malta would not only be able to get their birth certificates changed, the Public Registry director will be able to issue marriage banns to post-op transgender individuals who express the wish to get married.


Helena Dalli, The Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties said she could not understand how a government complicates matters even more for a person who already faced great difficulties in life.

“The government cannot punish these people although they continue to suffer as a result of prejudice against them,” she said. “It is not just laws that need to change but attitudes and silence should not prevail”.

Amen to that.   We in the international trans community hope these Civil Code changes are expeditiously passed and Malta continues the process of ensuring all of its trans citizens are treated equally under their nation's laws.

Joanne Cassar Wins! Maltese Government Drops Objections To Her Right To Marry

TransGriot Note: E-mail this one to HRC and Karin Quimby for me will you?

After a protracted legal battle that went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France and even became an issue in the recent Maltese election, Joanne Cassar's long fight to have her marriage rights recognized is victorious.

The April 2 news that the Maltese government will amend the Marriage Act so that trans people can marry the partners of their choice according to their acquired gender was greeted with jubilation and relief.

But none were happier than Joanne Cassar, who has been battling the Maltese government in court for seven years to be able to marry her male partner.   Cassar won and lost cases in the Maltese court system and eventually took her marriage rights legal wrangle to the ECHR.

She gleefully expressed her satisfaction on social media upon hearing the news that her long battle is finally over. 

Cassar even became an issue in the March 9 Maltese election.   In a public rally March 2 before Maltese voters went to the polls then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi announced in response to an audience question that his ruling Nationalist Party would if re-elected introduce gender recognition legislation in the next parliament.   Gonzi also claimed that the reason why the Maltese parliament never discussed the transgender recognition private member's bill tabled by then Opposition MP Evarist Bartolo was lack of time.

Never mind the fact that the Gonzi government had been fighting Cassar tooth and nail in the courts and she called him on it.     

Cassar accused the Gonzi administration of exploiting her case for political advantage.  She pointed out the hypocrisy of the same government now promising to enact these trans marriage rights fighting to keep the legal obstacles that stood in the way of her ability to get married.

She noted the Gonzi government had even filed written submissions against her right to marry in her ECHR case in Strasbourg.

Former Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Michael Briguglio then called upon the Gonzi government to stop officially opposing Joanne Cassar in her bid to marry her partner.

"Not only did the government fail to progress the legislation that was tabled through a private member's bill; but it actually fought Joanne Cassar tooth and nail all the way to the Constitutional Court to deny her the fundamental right to marry her male partner," Briguglio said. "This in spite of clear European Court of Human Rights case-law dating back to 2002 which Malta is obliged to respect."

You know how voters in any country hate hypocritical politicians who also get caught misspeaking lying, and Gonzi's party paid dearly at the polls.  The oppostion Labour Party rolled to a 39-26 landslide victory on Election Night making their leader Joseph Muscat the new Prime Minister.   The Nationalists picked up four at large seats later, but the net loss of five seats ended their 15 years in power.

The Malta Gay Rights Movement's coordinator Gabi Calleja was also happy to hear that the Maltese government finally joined the 21st century and conformed to European law. 

"I think it's about time that Joanne Cassar's ordeal was brought to an end, and that we finally conform to European law at least in so far as marriage is concerned."

The right of transgender persons to marry in Europe was firmly established in the 2002 precedent setting case Christine Goodwin vs the United Kingdom in which the ECHR held that it found no justification for barring transsexuals from enjoying the right to marry under any circumstances.
 
Details on the legal amendment will reflect the principle that, by officially recognizing a person's reassigned gender identity through documentation (ID card or driver's license), the State also de facto commits itself to acknowledging and protecting all the rights and privileges associated with that particular gender identity including the right to marry a person of the opposite gender.

Once the legal amendments are in place, the ECHR case filed against Malta by Cassar will be withdrawn, and her legal expenses will be refunded by the State.

Congrats Joanne on winning your long marriage fight that you never should have had to go through in the first place and striking a blow for girls like us around the world.   

Joanne Cassar Is Still Fighting For Her Human Rights

I've been curious to find out what has been transpiring in Joanne Cassar of Malta's life since I wrote my last post on her now seven year roller coaster battle for her right to marry that started in 2006.  

She took her case to the European Court of Human Rights where it was heard in July 2012, and she is now awaiting a ruling on it. 

Still haven't seen anything yet concerning a ruling from the ECHR, but did stumble across a recent Times of Malta article featuring her and detailing some of the foul transphobic crap that has been aimed her way in that European island nation as she fights for her human rights.

In the past the 31-year-old, who underwent gender reassignment surgery nine years ago, has even been beaten up because of who she is. The latest violent episode was three years ago when she was at a carnival party in Gozo.  

“I was walking off the dance floor. I was hit on the head with a bottle and kicked in my chest and stomach. They stole my bag,” she recalled, adding she did not see the point in filing a police report.
“What would I get out of it? I’d end up having to go to court repeatedly… and if I had to file a report each time I’m insulted, I might as well move into the police station,” she said.

“When I sense trouble I tell the bouncer or leave the club, even if it means crying myself to sleep. I try to make it look like I don’t care, but I do. Some people hate people like me and I don’t know why,” she said.

“But my greatest disappointment is that we are in 2013 and I’ve been fighting for a human right for seven years,” she said, referring to a pending case before the European Court of Human Rights where she is fighting for the right to marry.

Yeah, I feel your pain Joanne.  And that's why we're fighting all over the globe to make trans human rights a reality all over the planet so our transkids don't have to endure the crap we've had to deal with.  .

 

Joanne Cassar Loses Appeal

The roller coaster legal ride of Malta's Joanne Cassar continues as the Maltese Constitutional Court upheld the appeal of the Maltese Attorney General this morning in her ongoing marriage battle in which she has won some rounds and lost some.

Joanne has been battling this since 2006, when she and her then fiance were denied marriage banns by the Malta Marriage Registrar despited being post surgical..   She won a round in February 2007, it was revoked on a 2008 appeal, and she won again in December 2010, 

According to the Times of Malta, The sentence delivered by the Constitutional Court presided by Judges Geoffrey Valenzia, Giannino Caruana Demajo and Tonio Mallia affirmed that a breach of articles 8 & 12 of the Convention on Human Rights had taken place in respect of Joanne Cassar. However the Court stated that this breach occurred due to a lacuna in Maltese legislation that did not allow for transgender persons to enter into what it termed 'a life partnership'.

Needless to say not only was Cassar and her attorneys disappointed with this latest ruling, so was the Malta Gay Rights Movement.  It pointed out that the Constitutional Court ruling failing to recognize Joanne Cassar as a woman who could marry a man went against the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights as expressed in Goodwin vs UK and other recent judgements and jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice.

The MGRM also noted that the court adopted “the narrowest possible interpretation of gender based solely on biological criteria,” to deny Ms Cassar’s right to have her affirmed gender identity recognized by law.


Stay tuned, this one is going to Strasbourg, France and the European Court of Human Rights.

TransGriot Note:   Initial reaction from TGEU.   Nothing yet from Joanne Cassar or her legal team.