LGBTQ+ Italians On Alert After Right Wing Election Victory

A right-wing alliance has won in Italy’s election, raising concern among LGBTQ+ campaigners who fear the new nationalist prime minister could adopt anti-gay policies and set back their efforts to boost equality.

Giorgia Meloni is set to become Italy’s first woman prime minster at the head of its most right-wing government since World War Two. She fiercely denounced what she calls “gender ideology” and “the LGBT lobby” just months before Sunday’s vote. She has also played down her party’s post-fascist roots and portrays it as a mainstream group like Britain’s Conservatives.

Meloni, a Christian, has sprinkled speeches with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and conservative statements on family-related issues, as Gay Times reports.

“Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology, yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death,” she said to supporters of Spain’s rightist Vox party in the southern Spanish city of Marbella in June.

But in the past few weeks, Meloni has repeatedly denied suggestions she might roll back legislation on abortion or LGBTQ+ rights, while reaffirming her opposition to adoptions and surrogacy for same-sex couples.

Federico Mollicone, culture spokesman for the FdI, reiterated his criticism of an episode of the children’s cartoon Peppa Pig that featured a polar bear with two mothers. “In Italy homosexual couples are not legal, are not allowed,” he said, despite the country having legalized same-sex civil unions in 2016, a reform the FdI opposed.

FdI does not mention LGBTQ+ rights specifically in its election manifesto, but calls for “support for childbearing and the family.”

When it comes to legal protections for LGBTQ+ people, Italy ranks 23rd in the 27-member European Union, according ILGA-Europe. It is the only major country in Western Europe that has not legalized same-sex marriage, though some microstates such as Monaco and San Marino have also not done so.

Same-sex civil unions in Italy do not grant couples the same rights as heterosexual couples and joint adoption is not available for same-sex couples.

“Even if she doesn’t introduce any anti-LGBT laws, she will not speed up what we’re trying to do to improve the current situation,” Roberto Muzzetta, a board member at Italy’s biggest gay LGBTQ+ group Arcigay, said from Milan. “In fact, she will slow it down, or do nothing about it, even though we’re already lagging behind our neighbors.”

Muzzetta said a clear majority in parliament could pave the way for the right-wing alliance to introduce policies that have already been discussed in some regions or municipalities, such as LGBTQ+-related book and event bans.

The Italian Senate voted last October to block debate over a bill that would make violence against women and LGBTQ+ people a hate crime, effectively killing off a proposal previously approved by the lower house of parliament. The bill, championed by the center-left Democratic Party, triggered fierce discussion in Italy, with the Vatican saying that it could restrict the religious freedom of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some LGBTQ+ people fear Meloni’s nationalist stance could increase discrimination. “This morning, when I woke up, I had a feeling of strong discomfort. I felt a great uncertainty, as if I had become aware that things could change for me and my safety,” said Cristian Cristalli, a 34-year-old trans man from the northern city of Bologna. “I wondered if I didn’t deserve a future elsewhere, perhaps in a country worthy of our lives,” Cristalli added.

In the northern city of Verona, Stefano Ambrosini, a gay 28-year-old PhD student, said he feared Meloni’s election could lead to an increase in homophobic violence. “A lot of the people who voted for her are the ones who are already perpetuating violence and discrimination against the community,” he said. “Now that she has won, these people will feel empowered and definitely safe in doing the terrible things that they want to do to our community.”

But both Cristalli and Ambrosini said they are determined to defend their rights. “Let’s see how it goes. I’m ready to fight back,” said Ambrosini.

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