Equal opportunities: Emilia Romagna ousts UDC candidate: "She's Catholic."«

BOLOGNA. The buzz had already started on the Internet a few months ago, with blogs and appeals for signatures.
Objective: to veto the nomination of Silvia Noè, UDC group leader in the Emilia-Romagna regional council, as president of the Equal Opportunities Commission.
According to the associations that defend gay rights—led by Arcigay and Arcilesbica—Noè would have been completely "inappropriate" for that role, given her "not very secular" beliefs: to name a few, her defense of the family and her rejection of easy abortion via the abortion pill. In short, Noè was too Catholic to hold a position institutionally created to protect women's rights and promote their equal participation in society (and yet, today, some claim it is a tool exclusively for affirming gay rights). And again, to borrow the expression used by Democratic Party vice president Ivan Scalfarotto: "Noè at Equal Opportunities in Emilia? Then let's make Count Dracula president of the Bologna branch of Avis." The initial position of Emilia-Romagna governor Vasco Errani, who had even sponsored Noè's candidacy for the post, was of little avail: the Democratic Party closed ranks and yesterday fully supported the position of Left and Freedom, Italy of Values, and Arcigay, voting for the other candidate, Roberta Mori, who was elected (also thanks to the League's ambiguous position). Noè was outraged, as was the entire UDC: "I was discriminated against for my beliefs: evidently," she added, "Emilia-Romagna is a region where Catholics no longer have the right to citizenship. And this is a very serious matter." (VD)