ROME – Same-sex unions and civil unions are once again stirring up tensions within the center-left. The debate has reignited following comments from the Margherita senator. Paola Binetti on homosexual relationships which, in her opinion, "are less stable and sterile." And it was precisely this phrase, uttered by the Dielle representative during a long interview on the Gay.it portal, that sparked a quick exchange between the senator herself and the honorary president of Arcigay and Ulivo MP, Franco Grillini.
Furthermore, Binetti's position also appears different from that taken by the Minister for the Family Rosy Bindi. Speaking in Strasbourg, at the Council of Europe, Bindi, while declaring herself opposed to equating de facto unions with family, argued that there should be no "discrimination against those who choose forms of cohabitation other than marriage," starting with homosexuals, also because – she said – unions between gays are "often emotional relationships that cannot be ignored," especially as "stable cohabitations" are increasing.
Indeed, the controversy doesn't concern the minister, but Binetti. While declaring herself in favor of individual rights for all, the senator is cautious about couples' rights and, as a neuropsychiatrist, invokes medical science to justify her position: "We have a body of data that tells us that the bonds of homosexual couples are shorter-lived and less stable." Furthermore, "being intrinsically sterile by nature, homosexual relationships pose the problem of a child who will always be the child of one of the partners, in the best of cases, never of both." Grillini's response was immediate: "Senator Binetti should attend gay pride parades more often, get to know homosexual families with children, and the thousands of gay couples who have been together for years." Responding to an invitation from the honorary president of Arcigay to attend the next meeting of gay couples to learn more about "the reality of homosexual love," Paola Binetti expressed her willingness to "exchange," as long as it is "calm and constructive" on the topic of individual rights.
The debate on civil unions could soon reach Parliament. The Rose of the Fist, with Enrico Buemi, urges that the bill be examined quickly by the Justice Committee of the Chamber. 'Agreement also Stefano Pedica, MP for Italy of Values: "We owe it first and foremost to those citizen voters who voted for the Union's program." The PRC MP shares the same opinion. Vladimir Luxuria, who considers "every day that passes is a day denied to a person who wants to assist their partner in hospital, a denial of patrimonial rights.".
The first criticisms come from the opposition. "In the Union," he said, Maurizio Lupi, organizational manager of Forza Italia – they want to destroy that fundamental value on which a society that wants to call itself civil is based, that is, the family". He is echoed by 'azzurra Isabella Bertolini, who accuses: «The adult Catholics of the Margherita party count for nothing, faced with the left's desire to destroy the values and foundations of the traditional family by equating it with civil unions».
