LGBT rights in Malta
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Malta rank among the highest in the world. Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the rights of the LGBT community received more awareness and same-sex sexual activity was legalized on 29 January 1973. The prohibition was already dormant by the 1890s.
LGBT rights in Malta | |
|---|---|
| Status | Legal since 29 January 1973 |
| Gender identity | Transgender people can change gender with or without surgery |
| Military | LGBT people allowed to serve openly |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics protections |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | Civil unions since 2014 Same-sex marriage since 2017 |
| Adoption | Full adoption rights since 2014 |
According to the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), Malta has been recognised for providing a high degree of liberty to its LGBT citizens. Since October 2015, ILGA-Europe has ranked Malta first in terms of LGBT rights legislation out of 49 observed European countries, a ranking it has upheld ever since, as of 2023. Malta is one of the few countries in the world to have made LGBT rights equal at a constitutional level. In 2016, Malta became the first country in the European Union to ban conversion therapy. In late 2020, Malta joined the UN LGBTI Core Group, an international platform for the protection of LGBT people from violence and discrimination.
Out magazine has declared Malta as being among the best European countries in terms of LGBT rights. According to the United States Department of State, Malta is a safe environment for foreign LGBT travellers, and according to the LGBT+ Danger Index Malta is the tenth safest country in the world for LGBT people. French agency Expert Market ranks Malta as the seventh best European destination for foreign LGBT workers. A 2019 opinion poll from the Eurobarometer series indicated that 67% of Maltese supported same-sex marriage, a significant increase over a decade, and 73% believed gay, lesbian and bisexual people should enjoy the same rights as heterosexual people.
Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression has been banned nationwide since 2004. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people have been allowed to serve openly in the military since 2002. Transgender and intersex rights in Malta are of the highest standard in the world under the Gender Identity, Gender Expression And Sex Characteristics Act, which permits transgender people to change their legal gender without medical interventions and bans surgeries on intersex infants. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 1 September 2017, and prior to that civil unions were enacted in April 2014.