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Between Sunday 18 May and Monday 19 May, the headquarters of Arcigay Rieti was the subject of a an act of intimidation of a clearly homophobic natureThe sign on our door was removed, torn into a thousand pieces, and left on the sidewalk in front of our office.
A “slight” damage from an economic point of view, but an unequivocal gesture that screams homophobia and transphobia.
The plaque removed from the door alone would have aroused suspicion, but what followed leaves no room for doubt: this was not a minor prank, a random act that could have happened to anyone, but a clear message of intimidation.
A gesture perhaps expected given the results of our association: numerous events organized throughout the area, from themed entertainment evenings (not least the first LGBT+ DJ set in our city, ten days ago), to training courses and counseling centers, from meetings for children (dozens of hateful comments online received when Drag Queen Cristina Prenestina came to read her children's book in Rieti) to presentations by authors considered controversial for the topics they address, which certainly shouldn't be.
All these initiatives have a single goal: to make LGBT+ people in our province, their families, and their friendship networks feel safe and welcome. To make them feel involved, listened to, understood, and above all, to make them feel strong, powerful, and part of a vast and numerous network in a region still fraught with ups and downs when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity.
This gesture had the merit of uniting us even more and making us understand, once again, that our work is useful, reaches where it needs to go, and is touching raw nerves. To those who committed this act of intimidation, we say: if you want to reconsider, we are ready to build bridges where they are needed. Rainbow bridges.
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