Abstract

The Maltese Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act, 2015 (the 2015 Act) has been described as “the most expansive, groundbreaking and comprehensive bill of its kind”. This chapter will analyse this Act to assess how it has impacted upon the status of intersex people in Malta. Over the past few decades discourse about intersex has been divided into two types of discussions: deliberations aimed at achieving recognition of intersex identity which may differ from that recorded at birth and debates about medical management. While these may seem to be two disparate aims at their core, they concern questions of dignity, respect and the realisation of human rights. It is addressing simultaneously both sides of the discussions that the 2015 Act earns it praise.