Queer History Erasure in Malta continues...and what are we gonna do about it?

Another iconic establishment, significant to the Maltese queer community, is about to be erased from the Capital City. The Citylights Cinema, mainstreamed as an adult cinema theatre, was a popular hotspot for the LGBTQ+ community in the past. Ruth Baldacchino, an international queer activist, sheds some history of this place.

Allied Rainbow Community have also made use of this space to host LGBTQ+ Community Events such as the Queer Short Film Festival (2016) and the ARC Eurovision Final Screening Party which took place in 2016 up until 2018 and a community discussion about LGBTQ+ and Mental Health during Pride Week of 2018.

Without divulging too many details yet, ARC are putting some resources together to create Queer Tours for locals and visitors to appreciate how such a conservative, staunchly Catholic Country in the 20th Century, provided 'secret' spaces for the LGBTQ+ community to meet and interact.

As much as we would like to roll out further details and establish these tours as quickly as possible, it's a matter of allocating the right people, obtaining the necessary licences and creating a fun and intriguing itinerary that would make it sustainable to operate all year round!