Dear Arcigay,
I am one of your members, and (also) for this reason I feel I must write to you.
Let's face it: even among us gays, there's a kind of denigration for those who, like me, choose to frequent outdoor spaces as an alternative to bars. Many gays consider this a squalid habit, and those who practice it often do so without anyone knowing. Perhaps this is also why what's been happening for some years now, despite being under the eyes of gays across Italy, isn't being reported as it should be: yet a fundamental right like the right to freedom of movement seems to be severely compromised. In fact, all outdoor gay gathering places have been under "special surveillance" for some time now, with constant patrols and mass identifications, often with suggestions from the officers on duty such as "next time maybe go to a bar, instead of hanging out in a parking lot" (that's what I was told). Then there's bright lighting everywhere (perhaps there are entire areas of the city—I'm writing from Rome—that have been in darkness, or nearly so, for years...) and then there are gates and bars in parks, and so on.
In all this, you, GAY ORGANIZATION, continue to "do-gooderly" advocate for "ever closer collaboration with the Police Headquarters, the Police Forces, and the relevant Ministries": are we supposed to become friends with those who oppose us with such shocking ignorance?
I say: no cooperation or mobilization against the raids, the intimidation, the "suggestions" to ghettoize clubs, the outright persecutions. These police and Carabinieri come to ferret us out in the most hidden places, where even a sexual act consummated in the open could hardly be classified as "in a public place" (I'm thinking of the most remote corners of Rome where no one would see anything at night, but where the headlights of the "gazelles" arrive promptly).
In all this fury, your silence becomes, inexorably, their accomplice.
I hope you'll publish my letter, so you can see how many people think just like me, even though my stance can only be a terrible thorn in the side of those with clear pro-government leanings...
Greetings,
Luigi
Dear Luigi,
I'm not among those who criticize those who prefer open-air cruising to indoor meeting places, nor has Arcigay ever expressed this kind of position (except with respect to the dangers of various situations). It's true that, by encouraging the emergence and consolidation of a gay community and, within it, a series of venues (nightclubs, bars, saunas), Arcigay has helped offer a valid alternative to those many for whom meeting among the branches wasn't enough to satisfy their desire for social interaction. Furthermore, we've always been careful to intervene when gay cruising was harassed by law enforcement. I recall, to name one example among many, our intervention during the fencing of Monte Caprino. We're not gentle with the police when we feel unprotected (just a few weeks ago we called for the resignation of the Bologna police commissioner), but that doesn't mean the goal of close collaboration with the police becomes any less important. The opposite is true: it is precisely in the face of situations like those you describe or the raids that have taken place in Milan in recent months that we must forcefully demand, as is happening in several European countries, that Italy finally trains law enforcement officers on how to properly interact with the homosexual and transgender community, understanding and respecting their habits and lifestyles. Police Chief De Gennaro has expressed interest in launching a similar initiative here as well. We will do our best to ensure this doesn't remain just a promise.
Sergio Lo Giudice
National President of Arcigay