From "La Repubblica" of July 28, 2003 by ANTONIO FRASCHILLA
Gay Pride, tensions rise
Mardi Gras 2003
The Torre del Lago district reiterates its rejection of public land for the mid-August festival. Pastechi: "I'll write to the Prefect." De Giorgi: "Common sense is needed.""
With three weeks to go until the big gay gathering in Marina di Torre del Lago, the controversy shows no signs of abating. Organizers are all set, including the grand finale with Alexia on August 17th. But the Torre del Lago district, which is responsible for the use of public land by the Municipality of Viareggio, decided on Saturday that the three-day event of music, entertainment, and gay culture must be postponed to September. This essentially confirms a resolution already passed on April 3rd (with only the Democrats of the Left opposing it), which allowed for the use of the Marina promenade only in June or September—a permit, moreover, not yet requested by the Mardi Gras committee, better known as Gay Pride—where the festival has been held for six years. Traffic and public order are the reasons for the denial, adding fuel to the controversy: 10,000 people attend Mardi Gras every day, in addition to the 25,000 people who visit the area on August weekends.
Even the DS mayor of Viareggio, Marco Marcucci, has attempted to break the impasse by proposing to move the evening of the 17th to the Cittadella del Carnevale, while leaving the two previous events at Marina di Torre del Lago. And it's highly likely that Marcucci will now have to intervene again to resolve this complicated midsummer mess. Alessio De Giorgi, the voice of Gay Pride, doesn't hide his disappointment: "They have the nerve to make such a request just a few weeks before the event begins, when the event has been in operation since April. We've requested all the necessary permits from the municipality; the one for public land is the least important, and in any case, we'll request it in the coming days. I hope everything is resolved and I trust in the good sense of the municipal administration. Much has been done in recent years to bring the gay and heterosexual communities closer together. This way, everything is destroyed, without even considering the importance of an event like ours for a city that thrives on tourism. We are also considering holding Mardi Gras in mid-August but in some private venues like Mama Mia and Boca Chica.".
«"We haven't decided anything exceptional," replies constituency president Athos Pastechi (Forza Italia). "On July 21, De Giorgi said he was willing to move the event to September. We have the recording of the meeting. On Saturday, we simply confirmed what he was willing to do. If they sign contracts and act as if they were at home, it's not my fault. I'm not intolerant; my restaurant is frequented by many homosexuals, but during the August bank holiday, Torre del Lago becomes unlivable: the center and access roads are completely blocked by tourists and festival attendees. If, despite our August ban, public order problems arise, I will request the intervention of the police. I will write a letter to the Prefect in the next few days.".
From "La Repubblica" of July 24, 2003 by Fulvio Paloscia
Drag queens in the spotlight, but gay pride is at risk.
The competition in Torre del Lago is on Sunday. Meanwhile, controversy rages over August: the district is not granting public land. "Discrimination.""
Who knows if the ostrich feathers and vertigo-inducing heels of Skarlet, Cocolabelle, Miss Take, Virginia Supreme, and Betty Bush will bury, with a sarcastic laugh, the controversy that is raging in Torre del Lago. Their fight to the last nail-polished nail to reach the final of Miss Drag Queen Italia 2003 (Sunday) risks being a wasted party: at tonight's selection (11 pm) at Mama Mia, the gay disco par excellence on the Puccini coast, the four boys in super-feminine outfits will parade with a furious sting in their stomachs.
The center-right Torre del Lago district, which is delegated by the Municipality of Viareggio to manage public land, has denied the waterfront for "Mardi Gras," the annual gay festival held on August 15th. This is the pinnacle of gay tourism, which has made this charming town nestled between the lake and the sea one of Italy's summer entertainment capitals, bringing significant economic benefits to the city. But beware of anyone who tells President Athos Pastechi (Forza Italia) that this resolution smacks of prejudice, that it is "a serious act for which a section of the district must assume full responsibility before the citizens," as Alessio De Giorgi, president of the committee organizing the event, maintains. "We'll hold the Mardi Gras anyway," he announces. "Thanks to an agreement with the clubs Bocachica and Mama Mia, we'll move the shows to their respective terraces. Since they're private venues, the district has no objection.".
One thing is certain: previously, Arcigay was responsible for security. Now, it will necessarily be up to the district to ensure services, security, and public order during the peak tourist season. "They can do what they want," Pastechi comments. "I simply implemented a resolution from the previous district asking the organizers to bring forward Mardi Gras to June or postpone it to September to avoid overcrowding Torre del Lago more than usual. The Aurelia is clogged; we had to close the Bufalina entrance from the highway connecting Viareggio to Pisa because there's a traffic jam in Torre del Lago, people can't sleep.".
Pastechi is no stranger to controversy with homosexuals: in 2001, he called for a referendum on their massive presence in Torre del Lago. "They proposed calling it the gay capital of Italy, but I thought it should have been the capital of music: the people should have decided. De Giorgi and the gays arrived in Torre del Lago not through the door, but through the window. We accepted everything.".
These statements prompted not only De Giorgi and the president of Arcigay Pride! Pisa, Riccardo Gottardi, but also Sergio Lo Giudice, national president of Arcigay, to speak out about discrimination. "We were notified of the resolution on May 27, by which time we had already signed all the contracts with the guest artists," De Giorgi continued, "but beyond that, moving Mardi Gras would mean distorting its nature. The district's decision calls into question the integration between gays and straights that had been so hard-won in Torre del Lago: undoubtedly, the district would have approved events of a different nature, but with equal appeal.".
The Honorable Franco Grillini wrote to the mayor of Viareggio, Marco Marcucci (Democratic Party): "What I ask of you, as a Democrat MP and as honorary president of Arcigay Nazionale, is that Viareggio and Torre del Lago not give up this event. It is too important a part of the growth, achievement, and dignity of the Tuscan and Italian gay and lesbian community." The mayor responded by proposing a discussion table: "The district must realize that having the mandate for public land does not mean dictating when an association can organize an event.".