Gender and LGBT supporter elected new Commissioner for Equality

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Helena Dalli is a new member of the European Commission, and a proponent of same-sex couple and sexual and reproductive rights. The Maltese has taken the newly-created position of Commissar for Equality. The Ordo Iuris Institute has submitted a petition to the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, calling upon her to stop efforts which could disrupt the Polish constitutional order and violate international law.

The Ordo Iuris Institute has already touched upon the ideological elements of the programme developed by the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen. The European Parliament vote on the appointment of new commissars was ultimately postponed due to a lack of consensus regarding three candidates. The final list of Commissioners includes Helena Dalli – Commissar for Equality.

The Maltese politician is open about her support for LGBT activism and refers to herself as a feminist. She was part of the Maltese Labour Party government as the Minister of Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties between 2013 and 2017, and the Minister for European Affairs and Equality between 2017 and 2019. Dalli was responsible for the development and enactment of regulations which enable people to legally change their gender without requiring any medical procedures, and the recognition of same-sex concubinage as legally equal to marriage.

As a newly-appointed Commissar, Dalli’s responsibilities include combating sexual orientation-based discrimination and developing the European Gender Strategy. Before her candidacy was accepted, the Maltese politician was interviewed by the European Parliament for three hours. Initially, Dalli stated that she would like to focus on three issues: combating discrimination in all its forms, including and empowering women, as well as promoting equality and full participation. All this for men and women, racial and ethnic minorities, religious and non-religious minorities, the disabled, the elderly and the young, as well as LGBTI people. A special Equality Task Force will be created for this purpose, which will include high-level EC officials from all Directorates-General. Its aim will be to develop an inter-departmental approach to equality in all EU policies. The unclear rights and responsibilities of the task force raise justified concerns.

During her hearing, Dalli declared her complete support for “sexual and reproductive health and rights”, emphasising that the EU must achieve its goals in a “sustainable” way, including ensuring access to sexual and reproductive care, family planning and education. The Maltese politician would also like to unblock the Anti-discrimination and Women on Boards Directives. The former contains a number of proposals which would significantly limit freedom of contract and economic activity and greatly interfere in the private sphere. The Ordo Iuris Institute has brought attention to this document on numerous occasions. The Directive on Women on Boards states that at least 40% non-executive positions in publicly listed companies should be held by those of the insufficiently represented gender (i.e. women). The new Commissar for Equality will also push for the ratification of the Istanbul Convention by all EU member states, and should she fail – she will consider proposing to introduce the concept of gender-motivated crime, though that would require a unanimous decision by the Council.

In addition, Dalli has stated that the new European Gender Strategy will tackle issues such as wage transparency, the differences in wages and pensions between men and women, violence against women and work-life balance. In order to empower women and girls, “gender stereotypes” will be dismantled, as they are considered by Dalli to be the reason for the existence of the glass ceiling, particularly in the sciences.

“The new Commissar for Equality pushes for radically leftist solutions under the guise of combating gender inequality. Helena Dalli fully supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, which are used internationally to promote abortion and permissive sexual education. She has also announced that she will push for the adoption of the ideologised Istanbul Convention by the entire European Union, and the unblocking of the widely rejected Anti-discrimination Directive, which stifles economic freedom and the freedom of conscience. We must continue to monitor Helena Dalli’s activities. It is extremely important to clearly express our objection to her equality policy,” says Magdalena Olek, Deputy Director of the Ordo Iuris Centre for International Law.