The right-wing government of Italy’s Lazio region outside Rome said on Monday it was withdrawing its support for the capital’s annual LGBT parade, prompting an angry backlash from human rights activists and opposition politicians.
LGBT rights and gender equality in Italy have been a particularly sensitive issue since the right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, came to power about seven months ago, vowing to tackle what she called the “LGBT lobby”.
The president of the Lazio region, Francesco Rocca, backed by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, was elected in February, overthrowing the former centre-left government.
The regional government said in a statement that it can no longer support the “Roma Pride” event, which will be held on Saturday, because organizers have publicly supported surrogacy, which is illegal in Italy.
Meloni’s government has asked mayors to stop registering children of same-sex parents, and its ruling coalition has introduced a bill aimed at prosecuting couples who travel abroad to have a baby via a surrogate, primarily targeting gay couples.
Mario Colamarino, the spokesman for the parade, said Rocca bowed to pressure from the conservative Catholic Pro Vida e Familia lobby, and added that the event would defy its decision to continue using the regional government’s logo.
Pro Life and Family welcomed Lazio’s move and said it would “continue to monitor” the regional government to prevent it from becoming “a vehicle for gender and LGBT ideology”.
Rocca’s decision was met with a chorus of protests from the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and other opposition groups.
Rome PD Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said the city hall gave its full support to the Roma Pride event, which was “important for the LGBT+ community and all citizens who fight against discrimination”.
Nicola Zingaretti, the former PD leader and Rocca’s predecessor as Lazio president, said he would join the march as usual.
“We should never be afraid of those who defend people’s rights. We must fight those who deny them,” he wrote on Twitter.
(Reporting by Federica Urso)
Source: CNN Brasil
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