‘Hugs From Malta’: Minister Invites Sexually Harassed X Factor Singer To EuroPride After Holiday Ordeal
Malta’s Equality Minister has personally invited a British singer back to the country for the 2023 EuroPride festival after she opened up about how she and her partner were sexually harassed here.
“As the Minister responsible for equality, I feel terribly upset about these bad experiences you went through,” Owen Bonnici said under Lucy Spraggan’s Instagram post.
“Trust me, these isolated acts do not represent how the majority of Maltese and Gozitans feel about the LGBTIQ community.”
“We are so proud to be so passionately in favour of LGBTIQ rights in Malta and I would absolutely love you and your partner to join us here in Malta when we’re hosting Europride in 2023. Hugs from Malta.”
Spraggan, a former X Factor UK contestant, yesterday spoke about her experience holidaying in Malta, which she said she visited precisely because she heard it was LGBTIQ friendly and progressive.
She recounted how people kept shouting ‘lesbians’ and making hand gestures at her and her partner, and how a waiter at a Valletta restaurant said the way they were sitting down was making him hard.
After only two and a half days, Spraggan and her partner decided to leave the island, with the singer using the opportunity to call out the harassment she had been put through on an island seemingly with some of the best protections for the LGBTQI community the world over.
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“I am sick to fucking death of feeling threatened as a woman,” she ended. “Sick to fucking death of feeling threatened as a lesbian. I am sick to fucking death of being spoken down to by men across the globe.”
Many people had strong reactions to Spraggan’s testimony, with some surprised LGBTIQ people saying they never experienced such incidents in Malta and others praising the singer for speaking out.
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Malta has made a name for itself as one of the world’s most LGBTIQ friendly countries, and it will host EuroPride, Europe’s biggest gay pride event, in 2023.
Are you surprised that Lucy Spraggan encountered such harassment in Malta?
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