Catania
Catania: We will be vigilant against anti-gay prejudice.
Gay men robbed in Catania. Lo Giudice: "It's hard to believe it was a prostitution incident.""
Arcigay national president Sergio Lo Giudice weighs in on the news of two boys, aged 18 and 16, attacked and robbed on Catania's eastern pier, warning against any legal action motivated by anti-gay prejudice.
According to the border police, the elder of the two could in fact be charged with inducing minors to prostitution and obscene acts in a public place.
“"It seems hard to believe," observes Sergio Lo Giudice, "that an 18-year-old boy offered money to a 16-year-old for sexual intercourse. We wonder whether law enforcement would have decided to charge the incitement to child prostitution and obscene acts in a public place if, instead of two male teenagers, the suspects had been an 18-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.
“Arcigay will ensure that, after suffering a violent robbery, the two young gay men do not have to suffer doubly prejudice based on their sexual orientation.”.
Attacks and robberies against homosexuals are often motivated by strong anti-gay prejudice. Attackers despise their victims and deem them less capable of defending themselves and less likely to report the incident to the police precisely because they are homosexual.
From "La Sicilia" of March 4, 2004 by Riccardo Di Salvo
Gays, between lava and broom
Katana, Katane, Katina, Katna, Katani, Balad-el-fil, Medinat-el-fil today Catania, the pearl of Trinacria, has been loved by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Byzantines, and many, many other peoples of the past. With its lava flows interspersed with yellow broom, its orange and lemon groves laden with orange blossoms, the green of its prickly pears, and its emerald sea, it captivates its residents and the multitudes of tourists who visit, admiring the vestiges of past rulers, which, despite natural disasters such as the eruption of Mount Etna in 1669 and the earthquake of 1693, remain a testament to its greatness.
Of course, if you think about it, there must have been a lot of "life" in ancient Catania. The Romans chose it as a vacation spot: the Achillian Baths, now ruins located beneath the current cathedral in Piazza del Duomo, were, in fact, the place where they relaxed, discussed, got massages, and... if we consider today's saunas, it's not all that difficult to arrive at the possible truth. Homosexuality among the ancient Greeks and Romans is an established fact, a custom of the times, neither deprecated nor stigmatized.
Today, the topic of homosexuality varies according to a population's culture and even geographically: for example, in Italy, there is more indifference in the large cities of the north, more discussion in the south. Compared to other cities in Sicily, where homosexuals are often forced to live clandestinely or leave, Catania's evolution has been decidedly anomalous, serving as a catalyst for those gays who, living in backward villages or towns, escape gossip and slander. Not that Catania boasts a particularly civilized population or a willingness to acknowledge diversity. The only reason, probably, lies in its ability to ensure gay people a certain anonymity and thus a lifestyle away from prying eyes. Thus, it's not uncommon to encounter gay couples in supermarkets, shops, strolling leisurely along Via Etnea, Corso Italia, along the paths of the Bellini Garden, or sunbathing among the black rocks of the enchanting Acicastello Riviera. Catania, however, lags far behind in the field of information and psychological support. Aside from "Agedo" (Association of Parents of Homosexuals) and "Open Mind," an effective LGBT initiative center led by Francesco Tosto (president), the city lacks support from either private associations or from the municipal and provincial administrations themselves, which have repeatedly shown strong and unjustified opposition to the homosexual issue. The Catania gay movement, however, has found valuable support in the Hon. Nino Strano, who has been working for years to foster serious debate, demonstrating that one can be sensitive to these types of issues regardless of one's political affiliation or color. In short, young people who discover they are gay are often left to fend for themselves here in Catania.
Yet, often called the Milan of the south, Catania has also stood out for its quality of life, sometimes marred by unwarranted checks by law enforcement officers who, taking advantage of their uniforms, humiliate and humiliate hapless patrons. Already in the 1970s, the Sangiorgi cinema-theater, the glorious Olimpia cinema (a pearl of Art Nouveau architecture, now degraded to become one of the many McDonald's outlets, a testament to the power of multinationals and the inane stupidity of convenient politics), the Sarah and Monachini cinemas, and the old ABC cinema were the scene of encounters that later blossomed into great love stories, of fleeting relationships consummated, and of venues for regulars' gossip. A few kilometers from Catania, in Giardini Naxos, the "Les Enfants Terribles" nightclub opened its doors to "different" couples seeking privacy and space to dance together away from prying eyes. In this vein, in Taormina, the "Garage" was born, later renamed "Perroquet," and in Catania, thanks to the courage and tenacity of Francesco Zinco, Dario De Felice, and the other leaders of the then Arcigay, now Open Mind, first the "Sala Neva" and then the "Pegaso" (now "Pegas's"), a glorious milestone that brought gays from all of Sicily and much of Calabria together under one roof. In the 1990s, other nightclubs such as "Lo Scacco Matto," "Charlie Brown," "Top Secret," and "Le Stelle" flourished.
‘The undisputed success of "Pegas's" was confirmed with the opening of the summer club at La Plaja, offering patrons a beautiful, evocative setting, with extensive woods where they can meet lots of people and, if they wish, delve deeper under a splendid starry sky, a meeting they had just had. In 2000, the eclecticism of the ever-attentive Francesco Zinco, Dario De Felice, and Giovanni Calogero gave birth to the idea of a venue unique in southern Italy: a nightclub under a circus tent. And "Circus" was born. In addition to "Circus" and "Pegas's," today, Catania's gay scene is enlivened by "I fiori del male" (The Flowers of Evil) by the omnipresent Cristina, "Villa Romeo," the small but delightful "Mikonos" sauna, and the newcomer "T6-T.sechs bar" by Carmelo and Christian. From this perspective, Catania has nothing to envy of other northern cities.
All this is magical, certainly, for a city in the deep South, but how many struggles, how many shames, how much bitterness behind it all! The life of a homosexual isn't just about discos, pubs, and saunas, which certainly serve to lighten his existence, but it's certainly a more serious commitment, aimed at the search for an identity that can go beyond the fleeting image given to him over time, where the MAN within every homosexual can emerge, beyond appearances, in a serenity that, unfortunately, I still see as far away.