The Viareggio demonstration against violence
""The inclusion in the financial law of the expression ‘'sexual orientation'’ represents an absolute first. We hope that breaking this taboo will be the’antechamber of concrete action to combat psychological and physical violence against LGBT people (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and that this be followed by other necessary steps to ensure their effective personal safety and the recognition of full equality of rights".
As Sergio Lo Giudice, national president of Arcigay, comments on the reading of the’Article 195 of the Finance Act, which allocates 3 million euros per year to establish an "Observatory for combating violence against women and for reasons of sexual orientation".
“We are pleased that the Minister for Rights and Equal Opportunities Barbara Pollastrini has made concrete efforts to respond to the requests of our organizations — continues Lo Giudice – and we are waiting for, as announced by Pollastrini herself and then confirmed by ministers Amato and Mastella, this operational measure to be accompanied by another, equally necessary, regulatory measure: a law against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which also extends to these fields the protections provided by the Mancino law 122 of 1993. The commitment to protest with Russia over the crackdown on gay pride in Moscow, adopted this morning in the Chamber by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gives us hope that this government finally wants to begin to address the homosexual issue"”.
The implementation of anti-violence measures and an anti-discrimination law were part of a package of demands put forward in recent days by a coalition of LGBT associations: Agedo, Arcigay, Arcilesbica, Comitato Torino Pride 2006, Azione Trans, Famiglie Arcobaleno, Gay in Uniform, Gruppo del Guado, and MIT – Movimento identità transessuale.
“We ask — concludes the president of Arcigay – that the functions of the Observatory, which the financial law refers to violence motivated by gender and sexual orientation, are explicitly also directed at prevent and combat violence against transgender people, too often the target of physical and psychological violence of all kinds, in application of European Directive no. 54 of 5 July 2006”.
There Directive 2006/54/EC Adopted on July 5 by the European Parliament and the Council, Article 3 establishes that "the scope of the principle of equal treatment between men and women cannot be limited to the prohibition of discrimination based on the fact that a person belongs to either sex. This principle, given its purpose and the nature of the rights it is intended to safeguard, also applies to discrimination arising from gender reassignment."“.