LGBT News Italy set to vote on Civil Unions

As the article outlines, Italians are willing to put up with gay couples, but are incredibly homophobic when it comes to gay parenthood. Renzi's not willing to burn up political capital desperately needed to address economic reform and the refugee crisis, so if support continues to drop over the (very necessary) step-parent adoption rights, the vote on the bill might fall short of a majority.

If they drop the step-parent adoption provisions, one of the most significant parts of the bill will be lost, presumably for a long time. It's unlikely Italians would have it passed as a standalone law - so tying the issues together might sabotage civil unions for now, but it's probably better to stand firm and allow it to risk failure for now so that gay couples can actually raise their children with legal protections when it actually does pass, instead of having one provision pass at the expense of the other.

Mind you I'm a complete amateur when it comes to Italian politics, so someone more knowledgeable might want to chime in.

 

Oh I hope they do! That would be awesome! That would make me more proud to be 50% Italian.

 

Wow, I had no idea Italy was that homophobic. Since the media loves to slander Russia and magnify it's supposed homophobic laws, we miss out on genuine homophobic policies from a supposed liberal EU country.

 

I have to agree with Aussie on how they are more okay with gay couples but much more homophobic with same-sex parent adoption. In Greece, where civil unions were recently passed, the majority of people actually do favor civil unions (and even marriage by a smaller margin), but the majority (by a large margin) are against adoption. Considering Greece and Italy are pretty similar in culture and location, I don't think this comes off as a surprise. In Italy, where the Catholic Church holds a pretty strong influence, it seems unlikely that marriage for same-sex couples would come any time soon. To my knowledge, Pope Francis isn't totally against civil partnerships for same-sex couples, but I don't think any pope can endorse same-sex marriage in the church... at least not anytime soon. That said, I'm confident civil unions will pass in Italy.

 

This.

 

There are several thingsthe in play here. The first being the Roman Church, Pope Francis is trying to turn this entity around, but much like an ocean liner the Church cannot make this turn too quickly without the ship breaking apart. The Vatican though a separate country exerts tremendous influence over the politics of Italy. Thus issue of step-parent adoption is muddied.

The second is the issue of civil unions. In a number of European countries a civil union is the benchmark. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco had to go through one. One must have a civil union before the religious marriage takes place. The civil union is what legally constitutes a marriage. It is because of this the issue of stepparent adoption must be tied. A civil union/marriage is a legal contract not religious sacrament and as such needs to tied to the legalization of civil unions otherwise the civil union would be inferior to anyone else's.

Italy must be applauded for taking up these issues, but it really must be all or nothing to be equitable.

 

Well, gay people are not vindicated, attacked by lynch mobs or anti-pedophile vigilante groups in Italy so it's not quite as horrible as Russia. Plus, Italy is actually nice in other ways.

 

If you're referring to the cuisine, sure.

Having close Sicilian family ties myself, I can say with absolute certainty that Italy is homophobic. It's not the ''let's punch the guys'' kind of homophobia nor the ''God hates fags!'' kind of homophobia on placards.

In Italy if you're gay or transgender - then you're not considered as a ''real man or woman''. Lesbians have it slightly easier from straight men, but for the wrong reasons. Gay guys, especially feminine ones are subject to ridicule. Italy is tolerant of gays, but it still is relatively homophobic. Having a lot of Italian friends myself, I can say that most of them would consider homosexuals as inferior but at the same time not bother to engage in the subject unlike Russia. Regarding adoptions, most Italians (except LGBT ones + their families) are against the idea of a gay couple adopting children.

 

I suspect that this is mostly due to the influence that the Catholic Church has had in Italy for hundreds of years.

 

Which is funny. In the earlier years of Christianity homosexuality was actually accepted more than it is today by the church.

 

This rings true. They needed the best painters and sculptors for their churches.

The degree of tolerance varies from south to north in Italy. Once you get closer to the border with France, Switzerland, and Austria, it starts looking more and thinking more like those neighboring countries.

I think they sweep GLBT issues under the rug and look the other way instead of being overtly hostile.

 

Most of you won't understand Italian but the gist is quite easy to understand.

https://www.facebook.com/Difendiamo-la-Famiglia-730586733727713/

 

A lot of the comments seem to be criticising the page - most of them better liked than the homophobic comments. But the page isn't actually that popular nor does it look like a formal affiliate of Forza Italia.

To be fair, it could be that I've just fallen for false cognates and false friends from French and Spanish, so it's entirely possible it's all the other way around.

 

Actually saw the page just a minute or two before I posted it and it seems fairly recent. A friend of mine who knew the woman who shared the page, commented on it. There is a lot of criticism from mostly Italians. I noticed that quite a large number of the persons who liked the pro-gay comments didn't have Italian names.

Most of the page isn't marriage related - although there were some comments in that regard. It's mostly with gay adoptions, and a lot of women in Italy are against that. There was an Italian TV series recently which I watched, E' Arrivata la felicita' which featured a lesbian couple (among other couples) and there was quite a lot of fuss on the matter, since the homophobic mother kept getting cast in a bad light.

The people as such won't have a turning point. But I am unsure if it will be passed solely based on the Church's influence, which although being weak, is still very strong in Italy.