A conversion therapy evangelist and two right-wing podcasters were found not guilty of promoting “change” therapy on a program in Malta discussing the subject four years ago, the Times of Malta reports.

Matthew Grech, a former contestant on the X-Factor Malta TV talent show, was a guest on the PM News podcast in 2022, with hosts Rita Bonnici and Mario Camilleri, where he discussed leaving his homosexuality behind for Jesus Christ.

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Grech described the experience in court testimony as “not one of therapy but a spiritual one.”

Members of the Malta Gay Rights Movement advocacy group reported the program to police. Grech, Bonnici, and Camilleri were charged with violating the country’s Affirmation of Sexual Orientation, Gender and Gender Expression Act, which forbids conversion therapy and its promotion in Malta.

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In 2016, the country became the first in the European Union to ban the practice, which the United Nations has said can amount to torture.

“This Court considers that the only intention the presenters of the program could have had was to provide a platform for discussion on this subject,” Magistrate Monica Vella said. “There is no doubt that they did not have the intention of breaching this provision of the law.”

Grech and his supporters were ecstatic following the verdict.

“It’s a victory! Praise you Jesus!” Grech posted to Instagram.

“Now I call on the Maltese government and the European Commission to revoke the law around ‘conversion practices’. It’s simply a weapon in the hands of activists, and it needs to go,” he said.

In a statement issued after the trial, Grech said banning the practice was an example of laws “weaponized to silence lawful Christian testimony.”

Grech was represented by Andrea Williams and the Christian Legal Center in London, which promotes a Christian worldview in UK public life. Malta is a former British colony.

“It’s a great day for the Gospel, and it’s a great day to show that change is possible and to be free to speak of that change,” Williams said of conversion therapy. 

Grech has been a poster boy for the discredited practice of conversion therapy since his appearance on X Factor Malta in 2018. The show was criticized at the time for airing his audition tape, in which he called homosexuality a sin.

“I used to lead a homosexual lifestyle, and then I found God,” Grech said in the video.

“For a long time, I stopped following my passions to follow Jesus. There can be love between two men and two women, yes — but only friendship love. Everything else is a sin.”

Grech won three “yes” votes for his performance of “Where Is the Love?” on the program. None of the judges commented on his “ex-gay” claims.

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