JANUARY
January 13th A demonstration is being held in Rome, in front of St. Peter's Square, in memory of Alfredo Ormando, a gay believer who committed suicide in front of the Vatican Basilica to protest discrimination and condemnation perpetrated by the Catholic hierarchy.
January 15th The European Parliament has passed a new resolution urging all EU member states to recognize same-sex unions. Sergio Lo Giudice and Franco Grillini's reactions were very positive.
January 17th Cardinal Ratzinger releases a Vatican document addressed to world politicians, urging them to strictly adhere to the Curia's moral guidelines. Catholic politicians must oppose laws on abortion, artificial insemination, divorce, and gay unions. Ratzinger's year-long campaign for restoration begins.
Demonstrations, exhibitions and debates on January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year, Arcigay has been invited to participate in several initiatives: Sergio Lo Giudice will give a speech in Bologna, and Aurelio Mancuso will participate in an official provincial event in Cremona.
The initiatives planned by the Arcigay Circle of Trieste, with the participation of Gianni Vattimo, MEP, are of great significance. A delegation from the Circle held a ceremony inside the Risiera di San Sabba: it was the first time in Trieste that gay victims were also remembered.
FEBRUARY
February 14th Arcigay launches the National Campaign on PACS. A program of hundreds of initiatives, signature drives, and debates begins throughout Italy. Alessandro Zan is appointed coordinator of the campaign, which will last a full year. During 2003, approximately 100,000 signatures are collected.
APRIL
April 25th Gay groups celebrate Liberation Day, with tributes at the monument to gay victims of Nazism in Bologna.
MAY
The Pontifical Commission for the Family publishes the Lexicon Familiare. This substantial tome, aimed primarily at educators and the hierarchy, is filled with incredible unscientific and denigrating claims about gay people. There are many reactions from the LGBT movement. Arcigay organizes a press conference in response at the end of June, attended by, among others, Father Franco Barbero and Paolo Rigliano. Agedo reports the authors of the book to the Public Prosecutor's Office.
JUNE
June 7th Eighty thousand gays, lesbians, and transgender people march through the streets of Bari. Gay Pride is a resounding success, prepared with a year of initiatives throughout Puglia, but also throughout Italy. Michele Bellomo and the youth of Arcigay Bari are rewarded for months of hard work, attacks, and organizational difficulties. The city welcomes the participants with a festive atmosphere, neo-Nazi groups disappear, and Puglia's democratic forces march alongside gays. It's a great celebration and a huge political achievement.
June 21st Gay Pride is taking place in Milan, with the participation of thousands of gays and lesbians. As always, the initiative is prepared with a packed program of debates and events. Hundreds of people attend the closing party organized by the CIG of Milan.
JULY
July 3rd The Italian government approves the decree implementing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace. This interpretative decree is difficult to read and leaves everyone perplexed. The LGBT movement expresses surprise, and experts are divided.
July 5th A huge demonstration in Rome. It's the Roman Gay Pride, which has been held in early July for years.
July 31st The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith publishes the document "Considerations Regarding Proposals for the Legal Recognition of Unions between Homosexual Persons." Controversy erupts in Italy because never before has a Vatican document been so violently homophobic. The Vatican's positions divide the press, but the majority disagree with the document from Ratzinger and the Vatican Curia. Arcigay and many left-wing parliamentarians, especially Franco Grillini, participate in the radical protest at the Vatican.
July 31st At the Montecitorio press room, the DS group presented the proposed law on PACS. Luciano Violante, Franco Grillini, Andrea Benedino, and Aurelio Mancuso attended the meeting. The following day, the event received widespread press coverage and became the strongest and most authoritative response to Ratzinger's document. The proposed law was signed by 161 parliamentarians, including Fassino, D'Alema, Pollastrini, and members of the Rifondazione, Italian Communists, SDI, Margherita, Greens, and the Mixed Group.
AUGUST
August 1st Michele Bellomo, President of the Bari Arcigay and spokesperson for Bari Pride 2002, was attacked at the Bari Arcigay headquarters, suffering multiple injuries and bruising. His bodyguard had been removed the day before. Parliamentary questions were immediately raised by Luciano Violante, Alba Sasso, Franco Grillini for the Democrats of the Left, and others. The minister promptly reinstated the bodyguard.
August 13-17 The Torre del Lago Mardi Gras explodes. At least 40,000 gays and lesbians flock to the area. Dozens of events, parties, and political initiatives are mobbed. Controversy surrounds the event, but in the end, thanks in part to the intervention of the Mayor of Viareggio, the event goes ahead and exceeds all expectations in terms of attendance.
SEPTEMBER
The National Assembly of the CODS, held during the National Unity Festival in Bologna, inaugurated the alliance between gay and lesbian members of the DS and the DS women. The Assembly opened with a speech by National Spokesperson Andrea Benedino and concluded with a speech by Barbara Pollastrini, National Head of the DS Women's Coordination. Paola Concia, member of the DS National Directorate and Head of the Sports Sector, was elected to the new board.
A debate on rights and freedoms in Cuba is organized at the Festa Nazionale de l'Unità. Aurelio Mancuso, National Secretary of Arcigay, is invited among the speakers. The debate, packed with hundreds of people, is repeatedly interrupted by various activists from Cuban friendship associations. Only Mancuso is allowed to speak without interruption and manages to denounce the way gay people live in Cuba, drawing applause several times.
The Municipality of Casalgrande in the province of Reggio Emilia approves the establishment of the Civil Union Registry.
Gianpietro Bucciarelli, vice president of Arcigay Perugia, and his partner Antonio registered in the Perugia Civil Union Registry.
OCTOBER
October 8th Around forty Forza Italia MPs are introducing a bill entitled "Civil Solidarity Pact" (identical to the bill by Violante, Grillini, and Pollastrini). The bill itself is somewhat limited and, by the proponents' own admission, susceptible to many amendments. However, the signal is very positive: "Even on the right, finally, something is moving," says Lo Giudice.
October 12th The National Council of Arcigay launched the national Kiss2Pacs demonstration, to be held on February 14, 2004. A national appeal collected signatures from intellectuals, figures from the worlds of entertainment, politics, and civil society. The entire LGBT movement joined the demonstration. The organizational machine was set in motion to bring the initiative to fruition.
October 16th The Pope celebrates 25 years of pontificate. Aurelio Mancuso, the only voice in Italy, issues a statement stating that there is nothing to celebrate for homosexuals; in these 25 years, John Paul II's reactionary positions have worsened the suffering of homosexuals in the Church. The statement is reported by many foreign media outlets; in Italy, only Liberazione reports it.
October 19th Livia Turco and Alessandra Mussolini presented a bill on live television that would benefit children born to unmarried couples. Before appearing on television, the bill underwent substantial changes thanks to the work of Arcigay, which, upon learning that it contained the discriminatory term "heterosexual unmarried couple," publicly denounced its odious nature. However, the bill failed to produce the desired effect. Criticized by both the right and the left, it remained a somewhat impromptu television episode.
NOVEMBER
November 4th Renato Zero gave an interview in La Repubblica titled "Gay, Let's Come Out." It's the first time the beloved Roman singer has spoken openly about his sexual orientation, which he's never hidden, but never used to spread social messages.
The City of Rome launches a campaign against discrimination against LGBT citizens. Huge posters are displayed across the city. The slogan reads, "What do you look at in a person?" Below, "Heterosexuals, gays, lesbians, transsexuals. Diversity is normal, prejudice is not.".
DECEMBER
December 12th A homeless man prevents a group of young women from being attacked by two young men. Natale Morea is beaten and remains in a coma in the hospital. A few days later, it is discovered that Natale had run away from his hometown, in the province of Taranto, because he was gay. Franco Grillini and the DS senator from Taranto go to visit Natale. The city of Rome assures them that it will find him housing and take care of him, who with his action has demonstrated a high level of civic duty. The Corriere della Sera and then L'Unità report Natale's story.
December 24th The unbelievable happens. During the homily in Rignano Garganico, a small town in the Foggia province, the parish priest, Don Fabrizio Longhi, instead of giving the homily, gives the floor to Pasquale Quaranta, a young gay activist from Salerno, who speaks about his personal experience. His mother is also present, urging the faithful to be understanding. The news is picked up by the entire Italian press. The community of believers defends the priest's action. Arcigay and gaynews.it publish the entire homily on their website, which is cited by all the newspapers, as well as the positions of Aurelio Mancuso and Franco Grillini.