The City Council has unanimously approved Siena's membership in the RE.A.DY. network, the National Network of Public Administrations Against Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. With this move, Siena commits to signing the network's charter of intent, founded in Turin in 2006 and now comprising over 60 member administrations. This charter of intent explicitly states, among other objectives, the following: identifying, comparing, and disseminating social inclusion policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and transgender people implemented by public administrations at the local level; contributing to the dissemination of best practices throughout the country by networking public administrations committed to promoting the rights of LGBT people; and supporting public administrations in implementing activities aimed at promoting and recognizing the rights of LGBT people.
Following the Region of Tuscany, the Province of Florence, and the Municipality of Arezzo, Siena will also commit, through the network, to continuing discussions with local LGBT associations, to fostering the emergence of the needs of the LGBT population and ensuring that these are taken into account in the strategic planning of local authorities, to developing positive local initiatives, to communicating its experiences to the Network, to supporting the Network in the dissemination of information, to creating an information page on the Network's activities on its website following a common path, to participating in the annual thematic day, including with its own events of public relevance, to participating in annual meetings between Network partners, and to initiating, where possible, interinstitutional collaboration between different levels of local government.
“"Today, Siena becomes the first municipality in the Province to join the network, demonstrating the administration's profound sensitivity and tangible commitment to addressing discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, effectively embracing the recommendation our association made at the beginning of its mandate," stated Giovanni Bacaro, President of the Pansexual Movement. "The next step, in addition to implementing the best practices described in the recently signed charter, will be to promote membership in the network among all municipalities in the Province. The entire Arcigay of Siena wishes to express its satisfaction with this new initiative, which is part of a well-established dialogue with the municipal administration, whose main partners are Mayor Bruno Valentini, Councilor for Social Affairs Anna Ferretti, and Councilor Simone Vigni.".
This new act continues Siena's ongoing initiatives to promote and protect its cultural and social diversity, which will undoubtedly be a crucial factor in the race to become European Capital of Culture 2019.
Pansexual Movement
Arcigay Siena Territorial Committee
c/o “Metrocubo”, Via di Città 101
53100 Siena (SI)
www.movimentopansessuale.it
