Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly spoken out against “rainbow families.” Now her conservative government is rolling back their rights.
(Bloomberg) — This article contains excerpts from That’s Politica!, a book by Chiara Albanese published (in Italian) by Vallardi, out on March 21.
Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala ended his podcast on March 14 by wishing his listeners a good day, but the news he had just delivered was a blow to thousands of families across Italy.
For some four years, Sala had been registering the names of both parents in same-sex couples on their child’s birth certificate to get around national legislation that denies them automatic parental recognition. The right-wing government, he said, was forcing him to stop. Their only option now is to try to secure that status in court.
It was the first rollback of civil liberties since Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, became prime minister late last year. Hours later the European Union affairs commission in the Italian Senate voted against a European proposal to introduce a parenthood certificate that would be recognized throughout the bloc’s 27 member countries.
The moves were seen by many as confirmation that Meloni is pushing ahead with an ultra conservative social agenda, and could target reproductive freedoms and gender identity next.
Protests were held over the weekend in Milan, attended by Elly Schlein, re-energized since becoming Democratic Party leader earlier this month.
“We are with the families being discriminated against, we want a new law discussed in Parliament to have same-sex families rights recognized,” Schlein said, surrounded by rainbow and pink flags. “We will be by their side in the squares and in parliament. We want to convince this government that discrimination does not advance society.”
Italy legalized same-sex civil unions in 2016, but amid opposition from Catholics and conservatives, same-sex couples still can’t marry.
Since legal responsibility of a non-biological child can only be secured through marriage or adoption, same-sex couples who conceive through IVF or surrogate pregnancies abroad (they are illegal in Italy) find themselves in a legal vacuum when they return home. They can’t perform simple acts like authorize medical treatment or international travel. Citizenship and inheritance aren’t guaranteed.
The Sad Truth About How Italian Politics Are Holding Up LGBTQ Rights
Progressive mayors began to record the names of both parents as way around the problem, citing their legal right to issue birth certificates.
“When on April 23, 2018, Turin mayor Chiara Appendino of the Five Star Movement announced the first registration of a child with two mums, the mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, blurted out: Naples had done something similar already in 2015 with two Italian mums living in Barcelona who had issues entering Italy. Maybe, De Magistris said, that was the first certificate in northern Italy.”
One by one these mayors gave up on what had morphed into a political battle after local courts began contesting the documents. Italy’s top court has ruled against the practice several times and suggested that a non-biological parent should try to establish their rights through adoption.
Last week, the Interior Ministry sent 64–year-old Sala, the last hold out, a letter telling him to stop.
“Same-sex parents want to impose on kids what does not exist — two dads or two moms,” said Lucio Malan, a Brother’s of Italy member and speaker in the Senate, as he defended the government’s position. Surrogacy has created a “market of kids,” family minister Eugenia Roccella said Sunday, adding that while the government does not intend to limit the rights of children, “the model we believe in has a mother and a father.”
Italy was already one of the most unwelcoming countries to LGBTQ people in Western Europe, with recent governments failing to introduce laws to criminalize violence and hate speech targeting a person’s sexual orientation or identity and the Vatican repeating that it cannot bless same-sex unions. The majority of its peers, meanwhile, have introduced policies to improve the lives of their LGBTQ communities, with Spain overhauling its constitution to accept same-sex marriages. All bar Italy have or plan to have some form of recognition for the children of same-sex couples.
Back in June 2018, Sala hosted a ceremony marking his first registration of birth certificates naming same-sex parents — for four families with two mothers — to applause. He signed a leather bound book where acts are archived and attendees ate pink sugar coated cake on blue plastic dishes. The feeling was that the tide was turning forever. But pressure was already growing.
Just days earlier, Lorenzo Fontanta, a minister for the far-right League party, said that so-called rainbow families do not exist. Brothers of Italy has also long targeted surrogacy, and Meloni has spoken out against what she calls “gender ideology” and the “LGBT lobby.” Under a proposed new law, Italians who travel overseas to secure surrogates risk two years in jail or a €1 million fine.
Same-Sex Parents in Italy Ask What’s Next After Meloni’s Win
Resorting to the courts via an adoption process is a burden on Italy’s notoriously overwhelmed court system that carries an economic and emotional cost for a family. And it is only an option if both parents sign up for it, an issue for families facing a divorce or conflict.
“In recent years, a special kind of adoption has become the go-to legal process for same-sex families to acquire parental rights. If the outcome is mostly expected, then why are we even talking about it, you might ask. Well, not so fast. The process is designed for minors who live amid struggle and conflict, and for their own protection it is specifically designed to be lengthy and very intrusive. It can last months or even years, during which time couples face psychological evaluations and visits from social workers.”
Even if the debate is the focus of media attention in Italy, there is limited chance of immediate change — any progress would have to come through a new law recognizing same-sex families, which would either have to be approved by Parliament or by Meloni’s government, and neither scenario is likely.
“This is a step backwards,” said Sala in his daily Bongiorno Milano podcast as he announced the news, “a big one, both from a social and a political point of view.”
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