‘Mapping the Rainbow – Researching the diverse colours of the LGBTIQ community’ is an HRD publication and the result of a collaboration with the University of Malta’s Department of Gender and Sexualities, the Europe Direct Information Centre and the Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement.
Research Symposiums are regularly held by the University of Malta, to present the works of its students, but this was the first to focus exclusively on LGBTIQ related themes.
The LGBTIQ Research Symposium was held on the 10th of May 2019 with three panels focusing on Non-conformity & Institutions, Social Issues and Education. Themes included: the role of the anti-gender movement in the continuing struggle for LGBTIQ equality; the experiences of LGBTIQ people of faith; the continued invisibility of intimate same-sex partner violence and older LGBTIQ persons; and sexual orientation and gender identity issues in schools. Eight of the nine presentations are represented in this publication.
The publication was subsequently launched the following year, on the 20th of May 2020, for the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). The launch event saw the participation of Gabi Calleja, Head of the SOGIGESC Unit within the Human Rights Directorate; Dr Claire Azzopardi Lane, Deputy Dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing and one of the editors of the publication; Hon Rosianne Cutajar, then Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms; and Hon Dr Edward Zammit Lewis, then Minister for Justice, Equality and Governance.
The soft version of the publication can be accessed for free here, while a hard copy can be picked up from the Human Rights Directorate’s offices in Paola, while stocks last.
