This article is published in number 16 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until April 20, 2021
Children must dress in blue. The pink girls. The first are taught to play football. To the second with the dolls. The future boys will chase the strength, they will dress with pants and when they grow up they will wear a tie. Females, on the other hand, will choose the sensibility, the skirts, the make-up and the jewels. Society, education, politics, work, cinema, television, even fairy tales have taught us from an early age to imagine and build a world well divided in two: on the one hand the men dressed in blue, on the other the women dressed in pink. .
With all that goes with it. Is it an order or a cage? Is it a harmless, traditional convention, some will say “natural,” or something that limits, suffocates, hurts and sometimes even kills?
An episode, very recent, one among many – indeed no, many – helps to understand. Castelfiorentino, province of Florence. Malika is 22 years old. One day he writes a letter to his parents to explain to them that he loves a girl. “Better a drug addicted daughter than a lesbian” is the response of the mother who, together with her father, changes the lock on the apartment door to prevent her from returning home.
Malika’s story is not isolated and not even the last: just visit, for example, the homophobia.org site and click on “List of episodes” to consult the daily bulletin of cases of homophobic and transphobic violence that occur daily in Italy . But what does it have to do with talking about all this during the pandemic, at a time when people are still getting sick, dying and losing their jobs?
There is never a good time to talk about the rights and the right to be different from others. It is always the right time. A civilized country, a democratic country protects the rights of minorities and the weakest, because doing so does not mean weakening the majorities, but strengthening everyone. This is the reason why, through this cover of Vanity Fair, we have decided to take the field in favor of the Zan Bill, the bill that protects people against hatred towards homosexuals, trans, women and the disabled. In our opinion, it is a fundamental opportunity for Italy to educate to respect and freedom, and to finally become a civilized country. Alice Pagani, the actress you see on the cover, and many other famous people will help us in the coming days in an awareness raising operation on social media to get this law approved. Obviously, the invitation is open to all of you: to join, just post a selfie on your profiles with the word “DDL ZAN” on your hand.
Those who want to stop this bill argue that it limits freedom of expression and that they want to cancel the idea of ​​family. They are lies. Big lies. A woman who loves another woman does not prevent a woman from loving a man. On the contrary: it makes everyone more free to choose, to understand, to orient themselves without feeling judged, threatened, alone and persecuted. And again, the idea of ​​a family. These are the words of Malika’s father, who surely grew up in a world where males have to dress in blue and females in pink, without any concession. Here are his phrases addressed to his daughter and his partner: “Tell that face of m … that if I snatch her heart from her chest … You have destroyed the family.” Now: who destroyed the family? The family should be a place of safety, growth, protection, love, understanding, hope and security. Who really destroyed it here? The father, son of a certain culture of hate, or the daughter?
The time has come to intervene with the law not so much to cancel the family, but to protect it. And the best testimony of all this is still Malika’s words of forgiveness, understanding and love. Words that leave you breathless, words that move, words that must teach us a lesson. «Thank you all», Malika writes on her Facebook profile. “I only ask you not to use hateful words towards my parents.”
What a greatness. What a civilization. The same that would be guaranteed by the approval of the Zan Ddl.
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Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.