<\/p>\n
An ex-LGBT activist in Malta who reportedly\u00a0faced potential prison time\u00a0after sharing his testimony of leaving behind a gay lifestyle to follow Christ has won his years-long court battle.<\/p>\n
Matthew Grech, who in 2018 began speaking out about leaving behind a homosexual lifestyle to become a Christian, was acquitted March 4 by the Malta Magistrates Court after being brought up on charges of advertising conversion practices. He told CBN News about the importance of the victory.<\/p>\n
Listen to the latest\u00a0episode\u00a0of \u201cQuick Start\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt feels really good and it feels like it\u2019s a result of the faithful prayers of the saints all around the world,\u201d Grech said. \u201cI have mixed feelings. I\u2019m thankful, however, it felt like the process itself was the punishment. And my question is, OK, do we now have freedom of speech around this issue in Malta? Because, really, if it was freedom of speech, I would not have had to go through a three-year process and in a criminal court for the first time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, he said he wants to see the ban on \u201cso-called conversion practices to be revoked in Malta and for the European Commission to prevent it from entering every state in Europe.\u201d Grech said people should be free to engage in honest conversation around such complex issues.<\/p>\n After facing more than a three-year legal conundrum, Grech explained what he faced throughout the journey to fight for his freedom and free speech rights.<\/p>\n \u201cI had 17 court appearances, faced several adjournments along the way,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was meant to be summarized proceedings. \u2026 It was all meant to be resolved in one day.\u201d<\/p>\n But that one day extended into more than 36 months of legal proceedings and battles as Grech faced up to five months in jail and 5,000 euros in fines.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving three years in court about what?\u201d Grech said. \u201cA simple conversation around sexuality and gender.\u201d<\/p>\n As previously reported,\u00a0legal problems began\u00a0when Grech shared his story of leaving the LGBTQ lifestyle and finding Jesus with a local outlet in Malta. He said two presenters with PMnews Malta wanted to know more about the nation\u2019s crackdown on so-called conversion therapy and his take on the matter.<\/p>\n Malta, in 2016, became the first European Union country to ban attempts to \u201cchange, repress or eliminate a person\u2019s sexual orientation, gender identity and\/or gender expression,\u201d leading to fines or even jail time.<\/p>\n \u201cI was invited to share my story on a program and answer questions about so-called conversion practices,\u201d Grech previously told CBN News. \u201cAnd I mentioned an organization \u2026 that supports men and women who leave LGBT and an organization that promotes a biblical sexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n Because the organization he mentioned helps assist men and women who have \u201cunwanted same-sex desires\u201d or \u201cunwanted gender confusion,\u201d he landed himself in the crossfire.<\/p>\n After three people reported Grech to police, he found himself in a legal quagmire. Grech remains deeply concerned about free speech rights in Malta and what he sees as a troubling erosion of basic liberties.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, people deserve the right to seek help voluntarily that is fitting for them, that is right for them because people want to live according to their values,\u201d he said. \u201cOr, maybe they want to resolve conflicts in their marriage or past trauma with abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n Grech believes his case is deeply important as it could set a precedent across the globe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was important to win this case, but it\u2019s even more important that now we build momentum in a way where we will see the revoking of conversion practices ban in Malta, but also in Europe,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think this has to be the building up of the momentum at this point. It\u2019s great to see the victory, but we want more.\u201d<\/p>\n Grech has in the past shared more of his back story as well, explaining how he was living an \u201cactive homosexual lifestyle in London\u201d before coming to faith. At the time, he was also heavily interested in the New Age and wanted to become a Reiki master.<\/p>\n \u201c[I was] just really in a place of confusion,\u201d Grech said. \u201cUntil a lovely Christian woman, she warned me about my New Age beliefs. \u2026 She invited me to church with her.\u201d<\/p>\n He recalled being hesitant at first but then her kindness led him to give it a try. And after attending his first prayer meeting, he was deeply moved by all of the Christians who had gathered together to pray.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they invited me to go to a main gathering,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd the pastor of the community was having words of knowledge about people, and he pointed his finger at me. He said, \u2018I sense that God wants to tell you that he really loves you.’\u201d<\/p>\n Grech described the moment as though a sword was piercing his heart. He decided to move toward faith and get a Bible. And he said truth began to permeate his heart after he read Paul\u2019s words about homosexuality.<\/p>\n He then came to a powerful realization: \u201cI needed to repent and give my life to Jesus, and I did that, and it\u2019s been the most surprising, blessed of a decision I\u2019ve ever made in my life; I\u2019m so thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the above video for more.<\/p>\n Please sign up for\u00a0Faithwire\u2019s daily newsletter\u00a0and download the\u00a0CBN News app\u00a0to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An ex-LGBT activist in Malta who reportedly\u00a0faced potential prison time\u00a0after sharing his testimony of leaving behind a gay lifestyle to follow Christ has won his years-long court battle. Matthew Grech, who in 2018 began speaking out about leaving behind a homosexual lifestyle to become a Christian, was acquitted March 4 by the Malta Magistrates Court<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[195,319,7115,256,2111,182,3079,685,688,1580,438],"class_list":["post-21582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jesus","tag-big","tag-case","tag-faced","tag-finding","tag-gay","tag-god","tag-jail","tag-man","tag-sharing","tag-testimony","tag-wins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}