Dear Walter,
Thank you for responding to the open letter we sent a few days ago, in which we asked for a clear statement from the Democratic Party on homophobia as a topic of focus for the national demonstration on October 25th.
Your response today is important and challenging for Italy's largest opposition party.
At this stage in Italian history, it is necessary to recognize that the economic crisis is heightening a widespread sense of fear and mistrust in the future, making millions of citizens insecure and uncertain, and thus also easy prey to waves of hatred against those who consider themselves different, outside the norms of a supposedly homogeneous society.
As Arcigay, we believe it is essential for Italian society to re-establish a direct relationship with broad segments of the population who urgently need a new commitment that links the defense and extension of social rights with the promotion of a broad era of civil rights and freedoms.
We are therefore pleased that our appeal, promptly echoed by many political and intellectual figures in your party, will allow the many gays and lesbians participating in Saturday's demonstration to feel part of an inclusive project that respects their legitimate and no longer postponable demands.
Arcigay, an autonomous political and social organization, gives voice to the concrete needs of Italian gay and lesbian people. It confirms that any concrete commitment by institutions and political forces to advance civilization in this country, defeating all forms of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and transphobia, will find it open to discussion and collaboration.
It would be desirable for these values to be shared by all political forces, and in this sense, Arcigay, consistent with its mission, is ready to dialogue with all those who fight for respect and recognition of protections for LGBT people.
Kind regards,
Bologna, October 23, 2008
Aurelio Mancuso, national president of Arcigay
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Dear Aurelio,
I thank you for the open letter you wrote to me, which is rightly supported by many authoritative voices in the Democratic Party.
As you know, we are committed to an inclusive society, where all citizens truly have the same opportunities to realize their life goals. The rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender citizens have, since the founding act of the Democratic Party, been an integral part of our idea of society, our vision of modernity.
We live in difficult, dark times, in which fear of what's different, fear of everything that doesn't resemble us, the ancestral fear of the unknown, seems to be the defining element of human relationships—in our country, and more generally in Western societies.
The fear of what is different, of which we have recently had too many examples, also affects homosexuals in an unacceptable way.
And this happens while, unlike what happens in much of the rest of Europe, gay and transgender citizens in Italy do not have equal opportunity laws and are not protected against discrimination and hate crimes.
The European Parliament, for its part, has long been pointing out that homophobia and transphobia are hate crimes similar to racism and xenophobia.
This is also why our commitment, mine and that of the Democratic Party, is, as you know, to eliminate prejudice and discrimination by supporting the legislative initiative, of which Paola Concia is rapporteur, which seeks to extend the Mancino law to hate crimes against gays and transgender people.
The risk that must be avoided is that, in Italy as elsewhere, a hierarchy of victims does not emerge, whereby some deserve protection and others do not. No one should be able to believe that violence is less serious because it is directed at victims less protected than others.
For this to happen, there is no doubt that all our concrete actions and public initiatives, which are characterized by a strong opposition to all forms of discrimination that weaken democracy and civil coexistence, are of great importance.
Kind regards
Rome, October 23, 2008
Walter Veltroni, National Secretary of the Democratic Party
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Arcigay: Open Letter to Walter Veltroni – October 6, 2008
Dear Veltroni,
We've read that you've decided to place racism and xenophobia at the center of the national demonstration on October 25th. We believe this decision is appropriate to address the worrying climate that has developed in this country, irresponsibly fueled by certain political forces that fuel fear and unjustified social alarm.
We cannot strive for a society that respects differences, minorities, and takes into account the tragedies of history, while forgetting that racism and xenophobia have always gone hand in hand with homophobia.
In recent years, Roma, Jewish, gay, lesbian, and transgender citizens have suffered violence, assault, and discrimination. From 2006 to today, 42 LGBT people have been murdered in Italy.
We therefore expect from your party, as from all Italian parties, a clear and unequivocal statement of strong condemnation of homophobia and transphobia, and a concrete commitment to finally extend the Mancino law on hate crimes to LGBT people as well.
Best regards
Bologna, October 6, 2008
Aurelio Mancuso, national president of Arcigay
