Below is the statement by Flavio Romani, president of Arcigay
Bologna, September 9, 2015 We have learned from the press that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Marco De Giorgi, director of UNAR, the National Office against Racial Discrimination. The proceedings were apparently initiated by Palazzo Chigi to sanction the letter that De Giorgi, in the exercise of his duties, had sent to the MP Giorgia Meloni, urging her to avoid overtly discriminatory tones and messages in her public statements. It should be clarified that the message that UNAR censored, published on the MP's Facebook page, urged a halt to the flow of Muslim migrants, as they were carriers of terrorist cells. The MP argued that she was not aware of any cases of terrorism linked to other cultures or geographical origins. The message that UNAR delivered to the MP Meloni simply contained the invitation to "consider, for the future, the opportunity to convey messages of a different nature to the community." The MP's disproportionate protest, immediately received by the Prime Minister, led to the opening of disciplinary proceedings against the director. The news of the public official's imminent dismissal has begun to circulate in UNAR and many newspapers. This whole story seems disconcerting to us, both in its method and its substance. First of all, we want to express our full solidarity with Dr. De Giorgi, whose task—that is, trying to contain racist tendencies in our country—is evidently much more difficult than we imagined, not only because Italy is a racist country, but also because those who govern it don't even recognize racism, lack the courage to denounce it and take responsibility for it, and above all, never miss an opportunity to flaunt caste privileges, which are fully part of the paradigm of discriminatory culture. On the merits, we would like to point out that UNAR's appeal to the Honorable Meloni seemed too cautious. It not only displayed the most primitive reasoning on migration, inciting blatant discrimination based on religious belief, but also made arguments that would embarrass even middle school students, who might perhaps tell the Honorable Meloni and Prime Minister Renzi about phenomena such as the Mafia or our own. Years of Lead, those of the massacres, and review the religious beliefs of those who exterminated innocents in our country. Meloni and Renzi should be reminded of Italy's pioneering work in combating crime and terror strategies, the way these systems still share power with politicians today, and the abundance with which we have exported them throughout the world. We then blanched to see the Honorable Meloni protesting while gagged, denouncing an act of "regime": the ease with which a parliamentarian of the worst right, leader of a party where some activists still sport the Roman salute, uses words she should actually be very careful to avoid, left us absolutely speechless. And today, it is with great anger and disbelief that we learn of the way the Prime Minister has apparently received this protest and decided to support it, bending the Constitution to his own advantage and wielding power shamelessly. In a country that every day, through studies, statistics, and news reports, we discover is increasingly racist, Homophobic, transphobic, sexist, lacking effective legislation and credible political strategies against hate crimes and speech, this news is the most resounding own goal the government could ever have committed. As absurd and squalid as this story seems to us, we hope to read the Prime Minister's timely denial in the coming hours.