Transgender inmates sue Home Affairs minister, prisons director

Update 6.25pm - Home Affairs ministry reaction Seven inmates are taking the Home Affairs Minister and the director of prisons to court after being denied the right to live as females and being confined to the male section of the correctional facility. The court application states that the transgender women were made to suffer intense humiliation and degradation, without respect to their private life and without being protected from discrimination. Aditus Foundation director Neil Falzon, who was one of the lawyers who signed the court application, stated that Malta could not wave the LGBTIQ flag here and overseas if it refused to protect the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the community. Racquela Spiteri, Frances Scerri, Michelle Falzon, Natal Bonello, Kevin Grech, Reuben dos Santos Crisostomo and Hector Antonio Montenegro Martinez are suing for damages. The plaintiffs noted that, upon entering jail between 1998 and 2016, they were forced to reside in the male section despite self-identifying as female and bearing many outward female characteristics, including hair and make-up, breast enlargements, and clothing style. They had even taken medical steps to modify parts...