Tapping into the LGBTQ Rights Conversation in Italy
Medium's Italy editor brought together writers to examine one of the most discussed issues of the moment.
Italy is the only country in Western Europe where same-sex civil unions and marriages aren't legal. With Parliament debating the issue, hundreds of thousands of Italians rallied in favor of gay marriage in January. Last month, the Italian Senate passed a bill legalizing civil unions; the lower house of parliament must still approve the final measure. Plus, the prime minister had to remove a piece of the legislation giving gay couples adoption rights in order to push the bill through.
So with this issue in the Italian zeitgeist, Medium's Italy editor, Martino Galliolo, started a publication and tag dedicated to the issue called L'amore come, or "How We Love." It's a joint effort of Italian writers, journalists, and Galliolo's publication Expost.
He recruited writers through a number of ways: reaching out directly, leaving private notes on Medium, and using the Request Stories feature for Medium publications, allowing editors to ping prospective writers directly on the platform. Also, one of Expost's editors, writer and radio host Giulia Blasi, wrote a prompt requesting submissions.
Galliolo envisions How We Love as a pop-up publication, but it could potentially house ongoing conversations about LGBT rights under the "Love and Rights" tag.
One of the stories Galliolo and Blasi used to kick off the series was about a gay Italian couple, Corrado and Lubos, who traveled to New York to get married, only to return and be unable to register their union at home.
It’s a touching story that shows how Italy’s existing laws have excluded LGBT couples. Corrado writes:
“It was in that moment that I understood I would be legally bound to take care of Lubos and that I was swearing as much in front of witnesses, in front of my friends, and in front of an officer of the City Clerk. 'I do,' I whispered, almost inaudibly, as my throat closed up and one eye — just one! — got all teary. Typical me! Lubos, though, was sobbing like a little crybaby. And so it was that we joined in marriage, till death do us part.”
Galliolo had the piece translated, and the couple also made a video with English subtitles.
Lorena Cotza, a campaigns fellow at Front Line Defenders, an international human rights organization, wrote an explainer included in the publication. He put Italy's gay marriage battle in context of the country's history and a rise in homophobic movements.
“Ironically, same-sex relationships were allowed in the ancient Roman empire and several Roman emperors were either bisexual or homosexual.
In 342 AD, however, Christian emperor Constantinus approved a law to prohibit same-sex marriage and ordered to execute those who were in a homosexual union.
Same-sex couples are not executed with the guillotine any more, but Giovanni de Paoli — a Northern League politician — has recently said in public that he would set his son on fire if he found out he was gay.”
Cotza published the piece in English and Italian to get a wider reach.
Another issue getting attention is around adoption, particularly since it was struck from the original legislation. Now, lawmakers are working on a new bill to allow gay couples to adopt — so the conversation continues.
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