Elly Schlein: «I am a woman, I am not a mother. But that doesn’t make me less of a woman.”

And eventually Elly arrives. On the stage that closes the electoral campaign of the Democratic Party, “in comeback” as the secretary Enirico Letta said, the vice president of the Emilia Romagna region rose to challenge the center-right program head-on and in particular the leadership of Giorgia Meloni. “And no, it is not enough to be a woman to help other womenElly Schlein said. “There’s a big difference between calling yourself feminine and feminist, if you decide not to defend women’s rights, starting with those on your own body.” Then add: «Yes, I am a woman, I love another woman and I am not a mother. But that doesn’t make me less of a woman.”clearly referring to the catchphrase of the leader of Fratelli d’Italia “I’m Giorgia, I’m a woman, I’m a mother”. It automatically became for everyone «the anti Meloni».

The comparison with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

20 September the British newspaper The Guardian he had called her “the rising star of the Italian left”, comparing her to the deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, born in the Bronx 32 years ago (she will be 33 on October 13). Elly Schlein, on the other hand, was born in Lugano 37 years ago, but there are indeed similarities with Ocasio Cortez: she too is a feminist, progressive and ecological, passionate about politics and with some record in this field. Like Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 became the youngest woman to be elected as a congresswoman in American history, Schlein also became a MEP at just 29. And in the last administrations she was the most voted in regional history, becoming the vice president of Emilia Romagna. Like Ocasio-Cortez, the proxies are hers fight against inequalities and the ecological transition.

The Obama moment

Schlein is the daughter of academics: her mother is Maria Paola Viviani, a professor of comparative public law and her father, a political scientist, Melvin, is American. After attending high school in Lugano, where her father taught, she moved to Bologna to study first at Dams and then Law. Shortly before graduating (on the rights of migrants, another theme dear to Ocasio-Cortez), in 2008, she volunteers for the electoral campaign of the future president of the United States Barack Obama against John McCain, an experience that will be repeated in Obama’s subsequent re-nomination in 2012. Close to Beppe Civati, in 2014 she was elected to the European Parliament with 54,802 preferences, where she also joined the Gender Equality Commission.

The coming out

After leaving the Democratic Party due to differences with the line of the then secretary Matteo Renzi, with Beppe Civati ​​launches Possibile, which will become a party in 2016. Since 2020 she has led the Courageous list and has been elected to the regional legislative assembly of Emilia Romagna and becomes councilor to the fight against inequalities and ecological transition. Also supporter of Lgbtq+ rights, again in 2020 in an interview with Daria Bignardi in the living room of the program L’Assedio fa coming out. “I’ve loved many men and I’ve loved many women,” she said. “Right now I’m with a girl and I’m happy as long as she tolerates me…”. Regarding the debate on the fact that a Giorgia Meloni prime minister did not automatically mean a feminist turning point in Italy, Schlein declared: “We can’t do anything with a female leader if she doesn’t fight for the rights of all other women”. You reiterated it on the stage in Piazza del Popolo.

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