From "Unità" of June 22, 2003 by Delia Vaccarello
Thousands march in Milan for gay rights
Over fifty thousand people participated in the 2003 Pride Parade. Controversy arose over the book "Lexicon," published by the Vatican, which discriminates against homosexuals.
A kiss on the Milan Pride float 03
MILAN: A rainbow of rights. The procession stops in front of the Duomo, and the opening float sings "Brothers of Italy." Women, men, transgender people, children, and the elderly sing the national anthem with emotion and shout to the sky, carried away by the melody, the urgent need to be recognized as first-class citizens. On the Milanese Arcigay float, along with Lorenza, the local president of Arcilesbica, and other activists, is a happy boy; his T-shirt says it all: "Gay, 19, happy." Down in the street, another eighteen-year-old, Emanuele Scivittaro, from Puglia, looks at him: "I'm straight, I'm here because we have rights and they don't. People consider gays different, and even among us kids, it's racism: some say they're disgusting, some say 'I'd beat them up.' 'It's time to say enough.'".
It's time for "awake" Italy to be a little ashamed, they say from the float that opened yesterday's Pride parade in Milan, reading passages from the Lexicon, where prejudices and insults against homosexuals rain down. "We want to see St. Peter's in mourning; they are the ones who should be ashamed of what they do," can be heard from the megaphones. Agedo (Association of Parents and Friends of Homosexuals) recently denounced the work edited by the Pontifical Council for the Family regarding rumors about children and homophobia deemed defamatory of homosexuals. Agedo also asked for the Lexicon to be confiscated, but the request was rejected by the competent authorities. The work, which opposes, among other things, gay families, has sparked outrage across the entire city, and is forcefully contradicted by Giuliana's experience. Giuliana is 36 years old, has been in love with her partner for 11 years, and is the mother of three children. The eldest was born four years ago, the twins two years later. Giuliana parades with one of the little ones in her arms and pushes the stroller between rails and paved pavement: "We live in her house, it's a council house, and if anything were to happen, the children and I wouldn't have any rights to the house. The children were born through assisted reproduction; my partner also paid for that, and by law she can't be the adoptive mother. I call her by her name, and the children call her 'mom,' without either of us having said anything to them.".
Of the rainbow of rights, which perhaps will emerge one day, and which today is anticipated by the many rivers of colorful cloth held out in tanned arms, the most eagerly awaited seems to be the one recognizing the various family forms. "Everyone needs to be recognized for their own family form, whatever it may be," says researcher Daniela Danna. Andrea Benedino, national spokesperson for the CODS (Homosexual Coordination of the DS), echoes her sentiments. "The right to be recognized civilly, as couples and families with rights, is urgent; it's time for full dignity to be affirmed." Raffaella, 30, also feels the need for society to consider gay people, even when it comes to services. "The City of Milan only gives housing at subsidized rents to married people, nothing to singles, nothing to de facto couples. Aren't the others citizens?" Emy, 31, has no doubts: "I want the right to enter into a civil solidarity pact with my partner, a civil union. I don't know if I'm a lesbian, but I know for sure that I'm very much in love with her.".
The procession swarms under a strong sun. Their focus on priorities rises like the heat from the tracks. Alberta, with her pale, ageless eyes, says: "I want the right to never be discriminated against, in any context." Titti De Simone recalls the need for a relentless fight against discrimination: "At school, at work, in church. On the issue of rights, the right is dragging us into an abyss, but no one will accept second-class citizenship for much longer. The Pride in Bari was amazing, because there is an urgent need to break with the right. The same urgency that exists here. And perhaps we should always have just one Pride, on the scale of the one in 2000. We are capable of organizing a march of 500,000 citizens every year who march for rights." Every year, solidarity expands. At every Pride, which is Pride, there are always those who come for the first time. The emotions of Tina, a thirty-year-old painter visiting Milan from Calabria, speak for themselves: "Enthusiasm, joy, serenity.".
From "Il Giorno" of June 22, 2003 by Marta Ottaviani
Gay, a square of rights
Thousands of people (over 50 thousand, according to the organizers) set the streets of the city center ablaze during the long procession that started in Via Palestro and ended at the Sforza Castle.
«"Deals, not words." With this slogan and a 5-meter-long fake condom, the third edition of Milan Gay Pride opened yesterday at 5 p.m. Thousands of people (over 50,000, according to organizers) filled the streets of the city center during the long procession that ran from Via Palestro to Sforza Castle. The slogan is clear and refers to PACS, the civil union agreements already in existence in France.
«"Ours," explains Franco Grillini, honorary president of Arcigay, "is a battle for legislation recognizing same-sex couples and their rights, as already happens in 12 out of 15 European countries.".
The scorching heat didn't dampen the participants' desire to celebrate, who brought to life an engaging celebration of music, colors, confetti, and balloons. Large rainbows, symbolizing peace and love, towered over the trucks carrying dozens of people dancing. Many people lined the roadsides seeking shelter from the scorching sun, cheering the procession as it passed.
Among the songs that provided the soundtrack to the fashion show were those by Heather Parisi, Abba, Richy Martin, Village People, Geri Halliwell and the ever-present Raffaella Carrà.
At Palazzo Marino, participants sang Caterina Caselli's song "Nessuno mi può giudicare" (Nobody Can Judge Me) and invited Mayor Albertini, who is in the Middle East, to join the procession. In front of the Duomo, thousands of people sang the Italian national anthem.
The party continued to the Castle without incident.
The participants' looks varied, from street style for some to more original designs for others, who tried their hand at costumes with meticulous attention to detail.
«"This," Grillini continues, "wasn't just a huge mass demonstration, but a popular one. Thousands of citizens are joining our battle." But more than a battle, yesterday in the streets of Milan there was a festive atmosphere. A couple asked: 'What harm are we doing if instead of a woman we want to love a man?'" One might even say that if they're happy, everyone's happy.
From "Il Corriere della Sera" of June 22, 2003
Gay Pride, thousands at the parade downtown. "Rights for common-law couples."«
THE DEMONSTRATION
Caterina Caselli's voice, from the amplifiers on the colorful trucks, bounces straight to Palazzo Marino as the colorful gay parade continues its festive and dancing march: "No one can judge me, not even you!" Chorus: "The truth hurts me, I know!..." And the Milanese secretary of the DS, Pierfrancesco Majorino, commented as the procession neared its conclusion in Piazza Castello that "it was a beautiful demonstration, and it would have been nice if Mayor Albertini had also participated, to show that it was a demonstration for the entire city, regardless of political affiliation. Let's hope he does so in the future." After all, Albertini is currently in Jordan. Thus, Milan's appointment with Gay Pride, the parade for "gay pride," which for the third consecutive year—after a preview a few weeks ago in Bari—has taken place through the streets of Milan, went off without incident and in a festive atmosphere. An event that was attended by many, though probably not as many as the organizers proudly repeated into the microphone ("We are fifty thousand!"): perhaps five to ten thousand, according to the Police Headquarters' estimates.
Following a banner with the guiding slogan "Deals, not words," the procession set off from Via Palestro and was choreographed similarly to previous editions. It featured bare-chested young men, drag queens, numerous couples of men and women of all ages holding hands, and representatives of all the major gay associations, once again demanding recognition of civil rights for de facto couples. "Just as happens," explains Paolo Ferigo, spokesperson for the Arcobaleno coordination group and president of Arcigay Milan, "in almost every other European country." «Today's demonstration – added the Democratic Party parliamentarian and honorary president of Arcigay, Franco Grillini – has confirmed itself as a great mass and popular demonstration: a demonstration that now involves thousands of homosexual people, but also thousands of citizens who identify with a battle that this year forcefully calls for a law that recognizes homosexual couples and their rights, as already happens – he also wanted to reiterate – in 12 out of 15 European countries».
«"It's no longer a question," Marta and Silvia interject, pausing their dancing for a moment, "of demanding 'tolerance,' which in any case indicates a form of subordination. We're demanding equal rights. And it seems simply obvious to us to ask for it.".
From "La Repubblica" of June 22, 2003 by STEFANO ROSSI
Gay Pride parade in Piazza Duomo, bare-chested
Yesterday afternoon, the Gay Pride parade from Palestro to Sforza Castle. Banners demanded the recognition of mixed marriages, as is practiced throughout most of Europe. Singing and dancing under a cannibalistic sun and nightmarish heat. Slogans against the Vatican and a demonstration at Palazzo Marino.
They shout "Down with the Vatican, down with the Pope!" in front of the Duomo, then sing "Fratelli d'Italia" with their hands on his bare, muscular, hairless, and tanned chest. Finally, they shout at the top of their lungs the ancient vaudeville anthem: "Where are you going, if you don't have a banana?" Who are they? Those from Gay Pride 2003, who, despite the recent massive national demonstration in Bari, also wanted to participate in the Milanese march yesterday, from Palestro to the Sforza Castle, walking, dancing, and wriggling under a cannibalistic sun and nightmarish heat.
Around 10,000 people (even 50,000 according to the organizers) took issue with the ecclesiastical hierarchy, led by Pope John Paul II, over the publication of the "Lexicon Familiare" by the Pontifical Council for the Family: "It says that a child adopted by a gay couple is easy prey to the parents' sexual urges," shouted the protesters from the Arci Gay truck. The Bologna prosecutor's office rejected the seizure requested by Agedo, the Association of Parents of Homosexuals, and the crowd responded: "But let the Duomo and all the priests inside sink!" The few, somewhat elderly, gentlemen marching behind the "Christian Homosexuals" banner probably didn't appreciate it.
There's also a grudge against Mayor Albertini, constantly invited to an outing that never comes: "The truth hurts, you know," Caterina Caselli paraphrased in front of Palazzo Marino. The invitation to Albertini to come down and join the party was futile. Yesterday he was traveling in the Middle East. The controversial aspects aside, the theme of the Milan Gay Pride parade remains what Franco Grillini, honorary president of Arcigay and a DS MP, calls "the final piece of the country's civil reform," namely PACS (Civil Solidarity Pacts), in short, the legal recognition of gay-lesbian unions, as occurs, Grillini insists, "in 12 out of 15 European Union countries.".
Slogans and banners proclaim this as effeminate gays, generously curvy transsexuals, muscle-bound macho men, studded, hairy "bears," and teenage girls holding hands march by: "What's new is that there are many very young people," Grillini explains, "and this means two things: that it's not true that they're uninvolved, and that they're less afraid than their older brothers. They're the children of those who lived through '68, a generation that began the sexual revolution but had very strong resistance to homosexuality. As parents, they finally understand.".
If parents have finally understood, if the marketers have long since understood (the highly sought-after gay audience has a strong propensity for consumption), the heat-stunned center of Milan watches indifferently. The streets lined with bank and insurance offices sleep while an excellent sound system alternates between current hits (Asereye), dark techno, classic hits (Gianna Nannini, Village People), and noble antiques ranging from Heather Parisi's Cicale all the way back to Renato Zero's Triangolo, Milva's Filanda, and the Kessler twins' Dadaunpa.
And while the procession warbles the immortal verses (Hello boys, crossing all of Illinois/ crossing Tennessee, without delay here/ the Da-da-un-pa Da-da-un-pa has arrived), including the gay Raelians, ambassadors of the aliens (are there gay aliens?), a statuesque black man in a loincloth and feathered headdress, two shirtless young men, and a black man in a long black dress stand out from the crowd. The small group slips into a bar, where the bartender greets them impassively: "What are you having?" Milan is the largest homosexual city in Italy, there must be a reason. Whether it's the force of reason or the force of money, perhaps it's best to think about that tomorrow.
