Social acceptance and attitudes towards the legalisations of same-sex civil union and marriage : a socio-geographic study

Abstract

In April 2014, Malta became the ninth country to recognise same-sex civil union which also allowed same-sex couples to jointly adopt. This paved the way for the 2017 amendments made on the civil-marriage act which entitled them to turn their union into marriage. However, given that both legislations were passed without a referendum, it poses interesting questions on whether personal attitudes are in compliance with the local, national and international legal processes. What are the acceptance levels and attitudes within the Maltese Islands, and what are the underlying influential spheres? In this study the application of the Rural Development Department (2009) rural-urban classification to LAU 1 (NSO, 2019b) is challenged in order to investigate its applicability to Malta and its size in relation to the relevant studies. Through the use of a qualitatively-dominant mixed-method approach, the respondents showed high agreement levels towards the legislations in question, supporting human rights and equality for all. However, social attitudes and acceptance were perceived differently, predominantly on the basis of Roman Catholic influence.