Aurelio Mancuso
Handshakes, smiles, personal contacts, a ride on the scooter of the very efficient Donatella, Councillor of the Milan Central District, an aperitif organized in the bar of an Argentine lesbian lady.... First images of an electoral campaign of a gay candidate in the regional elections in Lombardy. The entire city and province are available to meet and listen to the (many) complaints of the citizens. On the little train, which catapults me from Magenta to Milan every day into the countryside, the voices are many, almost all angry at the management of the railway that is incredible: we traveled faster 20 years ago! So it happened that after waiting (it was the end of February) about an hour and a half for the little train to resume its very slow journey in Vittuone, I was forced to ask for help from my partner's father, who, like a relay, got me in time to Tele Lombardia for a live broadcast (the final time for the 30 kilometers was 2 and a half hours). Milan by night, where much of my electoral campaign takes place (in Arcigay clubs, but not only, also in pubs, in Arci clubs, among gay architects, etc.), I observe the amazement at the words.
It is no longer the disengagement of the 80s, it is a distance full of curiosity, even of desire to know; a lack of political support for problems both large and small, which simmer beneath the apparent frenzy: essentially a feeling of loneliness, of being voiceless. But the night is generous, and words flow more easily over a drink. And in the bright lights alternating with the many dark areas (too many dark neighborhoods, little attention to the sense of insecurity that all this fuels), identities mingle.
THE Navigli, An area beloved by Milanese residents, crowded at night and crushed by infernal traffic 24/7, this is where a movement began, now present in many Milanese neighborhoods, fighting for redevelopment and against smog. Coincidentally, women are at the forefront, along with their children, fathers, and grandparents.
The gay candidate then unrolls his entire patrimony of ideas, with them, but also with the guys from the bars on Via Sammartini, (a possible gay street but degraded by neglect), speaks of the freedom of living in a different city, of the many, many rights denied: from health, to love, from culture to at least a stable job that allows one to build a dignified life plan. Each meeting ends with encouragement and eyes that look to the uncertain future at least with more joy.