WATCH: ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars If You’re Gay’: Ben Camille Weighs In On Malta’s Controversial Gay Conversion Debate
Ben Camille has taken to Instagram to express his concerns about a conversation that has taken over the island recently; gay conversion.
The local actor and TV host was inspired to share his opinion after receiving what he calls a “worrying message” from a fan, as well as after watching a discussion on gay conversion on popular Friday night talk show Xarabank last Friday.
“I can’t believe we’re in 2019 and we’re talking about being gay as if it was some kind of illness”
Ben expressed concerns that the conversation on Xarabank revolved solely around the question “but what if someone wants to change?”, and they didn’t touch on the fact that there really is “no need to change”.
He draws some comparisons to situations where one may want to seek change; being overweight but wanting to live a healthy life, being afraid of flying but wanting to explore the world, being a nervous person but wanting to think rationally.
“It’s ok to seek change” he claims, “but there is no need to seek change if you’re gay”.
“If you’re gay, embrace it. Thank your lucky stars. Just as if you’re straight or bisexual. Thank your lucky stars that you’ve identified your sexuality and that you know what it is. Because that means you can find love”
Ben then gets visibly very emotional when he discusses the message he received from a fan, saying that it kills him to think that there is a boy out there who is too scared to express who they are for fear of being bullied. “I would find that extremely frustrating” he says, “because love is a big part of my life, and if someone had to take that away from me I wouldn’t want to live anymore.”
He ends his speech with a powerful; “If it’s love, it’s love – simple as that.” And if you listened closely you can hear someone, probably his wife Christina, going “aaawww” as he says it, which is a cute moment.
It is important to have people in the spotlight having these discussions, as they have a lot of influence on the public and sadly these topics are still considered rather taboo here in Malta. Of course, the next step would be to start listening to voices from within the LGBT+ community when they say these things.
It’s great that Ben Camille is using his platform for things like this, but let’s start giving credibility to all the queer people who are expressing their opinions and being overlooked.
It’s not the first time that Ben has used Instagram as a platform to share a message
Two months ago, the Maltese TV host had expressed support for X Factor Malta judge Alex Alden after she lost all her contestants in the first two episodes of the show.
“Il-paroli fil-vojt, vojt”, Ben had said on the day, claiming he was “upset about the way people are commenting” on the situation. “Some comments are just uncalled for.”
