For several years, Arcigay has been working to promote the emergence of gays and lesbians in certain work environments.
Open Polis It is the first Italian association that brings together LGBT citizens who serve in the police force and military.
The birth of Open Polis, an association that we have supported throughout its establishment, marks a new important milestone in building an increasingly visible Italian LGBT community that is attentive to the various needs of homosexual people: from aggregation to entertainment, from the development of one's own interests to presence in the workplace and in territorial areas.
The construction of a widespread social network, which finally has the strength to obtain laws and provisions that recognize the rights and duties of all gay and lesbian citizens, is the central objective we are working on.
September 20th and 21st in Bologna We will hold our National Council meeting, whose main agenda item is the creation of a National LGBT Federation. This federation will bring together all national networks and interest groups that wish to work concretely on the issue of visibility, widespread presence, and direct contact with the gay community and institutions.
The presence of visible gays and lesbians in the military and law enforcement forces helps these institutions address the gay issue in a new and positive way, and will also substantially improve the daily lives of gays within the military and police forces.
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From "Corriere.it" of September 2, 2008 – by Vera Schiavazzi
«"Enough with clandestinity"»
Here's the gay police meeting
It's called "Polis Aperta." The president: too much discrimination. Police officers and military personnel found the first Italian association. The first meeting will take place on Friday, September 26th, in Bologna.
TURIN — Minister La Russa waitsHere we come. Gay and lesbian police officers, Carabinieri, and men and women from the Guardia di Finanza, the Army, and the Air Force are coming out into the open in Italy, after a long period of uncertainty and secrecy. And on Friday, September 26, in Bologna, they will turn the page: their association, «Open Polis», the first and only one in our country, will gather its board of directors to adopt a new Statute and a program of initiatives, in a great collective coming out.
Despite the decision, also taken following pressure from other European groups, starting with the Spanish Gaylespol who organised the last international gathering in Barcelona, It's still very difficult to find gays and lesbians in uniform willing to talk, and it is no coincidence that for some it is easier than for others: Vito Raimondi, from Turin, is a financier like the Trieste native Nicholas Cicchitti, president of Polis Aperta. "For many of us," she says, "the fear isn't of violent retaliation, but of creeping discrimination. And the discomfort of the daily machismo that those in uniform are forced to endure, made up of jokes and language, the same machismo that women who joined the army and the police have helped change, but have yet to eradicate.".
Today, the members of Polis Aperta who have a name and surname and freely participate in the first public activities of the association are approximately two-hundred. There are those who have come out personally despite being a Carabiniere, in one of the most traditional corps, and those who prefer not to appear even though they work as a traffic policeman: "You never know how your superiors will react, and it's difficult to prove that a 'punitive' transfer came about because it was discovered that you were gay and not for 'service requirements,' as the official reason states.".
The Italian rule, therefore, is "don't ask, don't tell": "I happened to meet colleagues in a disco who, as soon as they saw me, turned away," explains Raimondi. "At the Gay Pride in Biella I was with my partner and A colleague who until then had remained on the sidelines of the demonstration, seeing me under the stage, came to greet us. It was a great moment, demonstrating that we need to make ourselves visible.".
A request that also travels across the web, in the heartfelt appeals of those who have entered - after an initial request and filter - the site's discussion groups web.tiscali.it/polisaperta. "Genova in divisa" writes: "Dear group, I'll make this last attempt and then I'll stop, because I feel like I'm the only one left in all of Liguria... If there are any colleagues from any branch, civilian or military, I'd be very happy to exchange ideas with them about what it's like to live and work in Genoa while being gay and wearing a uniform." Giulio, a new member from the South, adds: "I'd like to talk to other soldiers who are having to live out their homosexuality amidst a thousand difficulties in Italian barracks.".
Polis Aperta requests the Minister of Defense to be recognized as a mixed association without trade union purposes., in order to circumvent any ban. Also on the agenda in Bologna is a program of meetings and the election of regional delegates. But, above all, the idea of being able to change from within a mentality still prevalent among law enforcement agencies, by creating groups of gay police officers ("we are a resource, not a problem") capable of training their colleagues to intervene in cases of crimes or violence involving homosexuals. This is already happening in Spain, where gay members of the Guardia Civil lead anti-discrimination courses.