“Before coming out, I was agitated and scared, because obviously parental judgment is important to every child. As soon as I declared myself, my mother was very tender and understanding, while my father did not take it well ». Alessandro Zan, a Paduan exponent of the Democratic Party and rapporteur of the bill of the same name, told the Courier service of his coming out. Which, at first, was difficult for dad to accept. «But then he made his own personal journey, because parents too must take a path of acceptance of their children, and eventually he became a great supporter of mine. He passed away four years ago ».
The bill bearing his name makes all forms of discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability punishable. Zan says he was “lucky”: “No heavy physical violence, as is still too often the case today. But I have often received jokes, homophobic jokes, some damage to the bicycle. I must also admit that my mind had removed them, then, in recent months, listening to so many stories of discrimination, I too have retraced those years and focused on what had happened to me ».
Zan decided to commit to his rights when he was on «Erasmus in England. Those months made me realize that Italian society was – and is – still strongly macho and patriarchal, while the experience lived in Great Britain made me realize that an alternative is possible. Once I returned, I started my militancy ».
It began in the Arcigay of Padua, “where I understood how important associations are, an experience that culminated with the 2002 National Pride: Padua was invaded by tens of thousands of people, it was truly incredible”. Zan is proud of his hometown’s Pride Village: «From 2008 to today, a lot of progress has been made, now it is one with the city. The Paduan people look forward to this event every summer. We were able to positively combine moments of cultural and political study with fun. Furthermore, it is now the most important LGBT + festival in Italy, a true bulwark of rights ».
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