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VALLETTA, Malta (LifeSiteNews) — In what is viewed as an important international victory for freedom of speech and religion, Matthew Grech, a singer and former X-Factor contestant who has been prosecuted in Maltese courts for three long years for having spoken out publicly about leaving homosexuality, was acquitted this morning.
“The Biblical world view around sexuality and gender is that change is a reality, that transformation is real,” declared Grech in a video message recorded on the courthouse steps immediately after his acquittal.
“The Bible says … ‘Some of you were homosexuals, adulterers, you name it, but you were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is the good news, this is the Gospel,” said Grech. “It offers hope, change, and transformation. And as Christians, we will always stand for this, no matter what the cost.”
Grech, 36, had faced up to five months in prison and/or a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,800).
Grech’s decisive victory in court comes just a week after he announced his engagement to his fiancé, Hollie Azzopardi. He wrote on social media:
Hollie – you are a woman after God’s heart. You are beautiful, sweet, caring, talented, discerning, Jesus-loving, trustworthy – and a real warrior. God spoke to you about me. God spoke to me about you. I know you are the woman God is giving me for life and ministry together, and I’m eager to spend the rest of my life with you by my side!
May the name of Jesus be exalted in and through us. No weapon formed against us will ever prosper, because we’re building this bond on the Rock of Ages!
The charges against Grech stemmed from a 2022 interview on PMnews Malta, a free-speech media platform, where he shared his personal testimony of becoming a born-again Christian and voluntarily leaving behind a homosexual lifestyle.
During the interview, Grech spoke openly about his faith journey and personal transformation, but at no point did he promote or offer therapy.
Nonetheless, LGBT activists targeted Grech for speaking about finding freedom in Christ following his conversion and engaged law enforcement to bring charges against him.
“It appears Matthew has been a marked man in Malta ever since he made headlines in 2018 for telling his story as a contestant on X Factor Malta,” explained a statement by London-based Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which assisted in Grech’s defense. “Silvan Agius, a senior EU equality official and LGBTQI+ activist, played a central role in initiating legal proceedings against Matthew by filing a police report accusing him of unlawfully advertising ‘conversion practices.’”
According to CLC, evidence revealed that Grech had been aggressively targeted by members of the Malta Gay Rights Movement, who believe that Christian beliefs on marriage and human identity, and any debate surrounding LGBT lifestyles, should be treated as a criminal offense.
Weaponizing loosely-worded LGBT legislation in order to criminalize Christian beliefs
CLC explained what was stake at the outset of Grech’s legal saga:
What happens in Malta on these issues is of international significance as Malta became the first country in the European Union to ban what LGBT lobbies describe as “conversion therapy” in 2016.
A ripple effect has followed with other nations, such as the U.K. and Australia, using the original Maltese legislation as a blueprint for similar bans.
The LGBT lobby, however, has struggled to define what the imposed term “conversion therapy” is. No evidence has been provided to justify the bans, but instead the aggressive campaigning is aimed at criminalizing Christian beliefs on human sexuality and silencing any opposition.
“If Matthew is convicted, men and women seeking change in their lives, to leave behind patterns of behavior which make them unhappy, will be forced underground,” said CLC’s Chief Executive Andrea Williams, at the time.
Following his victory in court, Grech is now looking to the future.
“My call right now is that the ban on so-called conversion practices in Malta will be revoked. It should have no place in Malta. It is a weapon in the hands of activists,” warned Grech. “My call is also for the European Commission to make sure that bans on conversion practices will have no place in Europe. It doesn’t matter what these laws say. All that matters is the activists will use these laws to target any dissenting view around sexuality and gender.”
“We have work to do. I hope this will be the beginning of a process where governments realize that LGBT activists have used the government to advance a law that they can use as a weapon,” he added.
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