HOMOSEXUALSEXUAL TRANSPHOBIA: ILGA SAYS ITALY IS BACKWARDS ON THE RAINBOW MAP. ARCIGAY: "WE'RE SINKING INTO QUICKSAND."“
Bologna, May 15, 2024 – “We're like we're in quicksand: we seem to be stuck, but in reality we're sinking.” Gabriele Piazzoni, secretary general of Arcigay, harshly criticizes the international reports released on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. Studies that highlight, Piazzoni says, “how Italy, while appearing, at best, to be stagnant in the fight against discrimination, is actually clearly deteriorating on many fronts. This is because a country's progress on rights can deteriorate even without new laws, but simply due to institutional inaction or the total indifference and sometimes legitimation of discriminatory behavior and language by politicians.” Ilga-Europe's rainbow map, the first of two reports released, Italy has lost two positions in one year and is now in 36th place out of 48 countries monitored. "Ilga's map," Piazzoni cuts short, "sees us outside of Europe. And yet, we are one of the countries that founded the European Union." "Another cold shower," Piazzoni continues, "arrives from the survey conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 30 countries. The European Agency tells us that in Italy, even today, 531% of homosexual people are afraid to hold hands with their partner in public places, 381% of homosexuals report having experienced at least one episode of discrimination, and 181% of homosexuals report having been subjected to attempted "conversion" practices, that is, someone trying to "cure" them of homosexuality. Not only that: the agency tells us that in Italy, the number of LGBTQI+ students who report having experienced bullying, ridicule, or discrimination at school is increasing: they were 431% of homosexuals in 2019, today they are 681% of homosexuals. This is why 511% of LGBTQI+ students report being afraid and hiding their sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom. Warning: 67% of these people also declare that they have never addressed issues related to sexual orientation or gender identity in their schools. "These two reports, in short," Piazzoni continues, "tell us of an Italy that continues to refuse to address the issue of discrimination against LGBTQI+ people, leaving all the strategies that previous governments had put in place in the drawer. The Meloni government bears responsibility for this: it claims it doesn't want to dismantle laws, because it knows that stubborn inaction in this quagmire of missing rights is enough to sink us," he concludes.
