Homotransphobia, Alessandro Zan: “The law to combat all violence”

Two guys kiss while they wait for the subway and on the other side of the platform, someone jumps at them and hits them hard. Because they are two men kissing. After yet another case of homophobia in our country, in this case in Rome, we are once again talking about the urgency of approving a law. The same one that, for example, was approved in France in 2004, when the right-wing ruled, demonstrating how much this rule has no political color but is fundamental for the cultural growth of each country.

In this case, of ours, Italy.

«The one in Rome it is one of the many episodes of homotransphobic violence that occur daily in our countryHe explains he Dem Alessandro Zan, rapporteur of the bill against homotransphobia already approved in the House and now firmly in the Senate. “The third friend to film the attack was very quick of reflexes, but not all the episodes can be told like this. Many cases of violence are more often than not kept hidden because reporting to the police means, especially for the youngest who still live in the family, coming out and it is not always easy especially in provincial contexts where we see many cases of children who come even thrown out of their homes by families ».

After this last case of hatred, even some exponents of right-wing parties, such as Elio Vito, deputy and head of the Defense and Security Department of Forza Italia, they exposed themselves in a positive way towards the Zan law and the urgency to approve it definitively.

“In the countries where this law was approved, homotransphobia episodes have collapsed precisely because people can report it. The law provides for anti-discrimination centers to provide legal and psychological assistance to victims, a network of support for vulnerable people is set up and at the same time a series of positive and awareness-raising actions are activated, involving schools and public administrations, precisely to educate to respect for differences and build a more just society through ‘education to respect and kindness’.

The Rome episode took place on February 26, but images of homophobic aggression were released only in the last few hours. And the violence unleashed against Jean Pierre Moreno, a refugee and member of the Gaynet Roma association, and his partner, Alfredo Zenobio, is so brutal that indignation and the need to fill this legislative vacuum have been shouted at many voices.

“Every two days in Italy someone is attacked, beaten, insulted, because they are gay, lesbian, trans», Comments the lawyer and activist Cathy La Torre. “Because he holds the hand of the person he loves or simply because he exists. The law must necessarily recognize the motive for a crime. If you hit someone just because they are homosexual, the law cannot ignore that it is a hate crime. It affects that gay man, but it could affect every gay person: a homosexual is as good as another, because the motive is hatred towards all homosexuals. Here, the absence of a law to frame and punish crimes that are already committed every 2 days is no longer tolerable. The absence of a law is the absence of the possibility of correctly framing these crimes also from a legal point of view, to bring them before the courts for what they are: hate crimes against LGBTQi people ”.

For the situation to break free, the Senate must do its part and activate the judicial process to reach approval. “We live in the midst of a health emergency that occupies the political scene,” continues Alessandro Zan. “Now, however, even more so during a health emergency where we see that domestic violence is on the rise it is even more important to approve this law as soon as possible, because it would give the possibility to get out of this underestimated situation of the phenomenon in order to have data more responsive to the reality of things “.