To the signatories of
Different but not divided. A call for a united National Pride Parade.
To the Torino Pride 2006 Committee
Dear friends,
Bologna Pride Committee
We thank you for your initiative, aimed at preventing two national Pride parades in 2007: one in Rome and one in Bologna. We believe this would be a mistake, especially today when the issue of recognizing some partial rights for homosexuals has taken on a central role in our country's political, cultural, and social debate.
Your concern is ours too: a few weeks ago, "Il Cassero" put forward a mediation proposal—a joint national demonstration in Rome in the spring, a national Pride parade in Bologna—which, however, was deemed insufficient by part of the movement, particularly the Circolo Mario Mieli, which concluded its document by writing, "We do not claim any exclusivity; abundance has never been a problem.".
The Bologna Pride Committee also doesn't claim exclusivity, but we see the risk that abundance turns into weakness.
This is why we accept your invitation.
We will sit down on January 14, 2007, at the table to which you have invited the movement's associations, especially those of Bologna and Rome.
We'll sit down with this willingness: for us, organizing Pride in 2007 or 2008 isn't a matter of life and death. Of course, we'd love to do it in 2007, but since the Bologna Pride Committee's intentions are not celebratory, but political, we don't feel bound by a specific date.
It is crucial that the two Pride events (in 2007 and 2008, and those to come) are the result of a renewed unity within the Italian LGBTQ movement around shared goals. We are convinced that the Italian LGBTQ population demands unity within the movement. It is our duty to answer this question. It is the reason we engage in politics.
What is essential is that every year Pride is better than the previous one: stronger, more participatory, more heartfelt, more lived.
It's crucial that, after the January meeting, a single National Pride Parade be seriously organized. The entire movement is extremely behind schedule, and whoever is called upon to contribute their time and energy must have the time and energy to do so in the best possible way and with everyone's support.
We have a great challenge ahead of us. Let's embrace it.
A big hug to everyone from
Bologna Pride Committee
The Bologna Pride Committee is composed of:
Agedo — Bologna, Arcigay Emilia-Romagna — Regional Coordination, Arcigay “Il Cassero”, Arcigay, Arcilesbica Bologna, Arcilesbica Ferrara, Arcilesbica, Bologna Gay Volley, CarniScelte, Dario Bellezza Homosexual Culture Circle, Crisalide Trans Action, Gruppo Pesce Bologna, Narciso e Boccadoro — Gay Believers Group, Transsexual Identity Movement, SexyShock.
To the GLBTQ movement
APPEAL FOR A UNITED PRIDE
DIFFERENT BUT NOT DIVIDED
The GLBTQ movement encompasses a wide range of diversity, and its primary purpose is precisely the visibility and legitimacy of all variations in human sexuality and human identity. We stand for self-determination in our primary relationships, we follow our feelings of love, and we publicly express how we deeply feel we are. Pride is the event where we all come together to express the joy of being different, rather than the shame that once isolated us.
This year too we want to demonstrate together, in a single national Pride, celebrating together the Stonewall rebellion, when "faggots lost that wounded look.".
Unfortunately, the general assembly of the GLBTQ movement in October ended without the movement's various associations reaching an agreement on the location of the 2007 national Pride.
We know that the split occurred between the supporters of Bologna and those of Rome.
The current risk is that no truly national Pride will be held in Italy, but rather two small local Pride events, a testament to the fragmentation and limited political impact of a divided movement. This happened in 1997 with the simultaneous proposals in Venice and Rome, and the small numbers attracted by each.
In Turin in 2006, all the diversities worked together, achieving the excellent result of creating spaces in which everyone was able to express their own different messages, and a huge national demonstration welcomed joyfully by the city.
Why shouldn't the movement's various identities be able to work together again in 2007? Why not agree to hold a joint Pride parade, in 2007 in one city and in 2008 in the other?
The risk of both sides failing is too great: we, the undersigned, call for a new national meeting, with the goal of choosing one city for 2007 and the other for 2008, and a commitment to work together for both dates—even if it means drawing lots to determine which city will host the next Pride first, so that neither choice is interpreted as a "defeat" or "victory" for one side over the other.
The signatories of this appeal warmly invite the participants of the Estates General, and all other interested parties, to meet again and work together to avoid the next major defeat of the GLBTQ movement at the national level.
We concretely propose a new meeting to be held on Sunday, January 14, hosted by Milan, to jointly pass the baton to the cities that will succeed each other in 2007 and 2008.
Saverio Aversa
Matteo B. Bianchi
Stefano Bolognini
Claudio Cipelletti
2006 National Pride Committee in Turin
Felix Cossolo
John Dall'Orto
Eleonora Dal'Ovo
Daniela Danna
Thomas Giartosio
Francesco Gnerre
Alessandro Golinelli
Valerio Governi
Margherita Graglia
Mary Nicotra
Paul Pedote
Andrea Pini
Emiliano Placchi
Paul Rigliano
Gianni Rossi Barilli
Veruska Sabucco
Luca Trappolin
