The Arcigay conference took place on May 21, 2009 at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. Young people and the discomfort of diversity, included in the cultural program of the National Pride 2009 which received the free patronage of the Minister of Youth.
The event opened with the testimony of Francesco, a gay boy who was a victim of bullying, taken from the documentary film "Who will give me back those years?"“, produced by Movie Movie: a sincere story of the pain experienced first-hand by a young man who had the courage to report insults, humiliations and violence suffered in the school context, in the silence of teachers and classmates.
The Minister of Youth Giorgia Meloni He opened the meeting by highlighting the need for discussion and shared tools to combat the hateful phenomenon of homophobia towards young people, and by presenting possible avenues: from promoting conscious sexuality and affectivity to building a national network of youth communities where discrimination must be banned. The Minister also gave his willingness to continue the dialogue with Arcigay, in order to build an inclusive society that makes everyone feel proud to be Italian, regardless of the person they love.
The National President of Arcigay Aurelio Mancuso He reiterated the need to find spaces for debate to implement the association's educational role, first and foremost with respect to institutions and politics. "The Arcigay Youth Network is made up of dozens of young men and women with a deep sense of community who They work every day to carry forward this educational role, affirming their visibility and conducting educational projects in schools, on the streets, in the community itself..""
Fabio Saccà, head of the Arcigay Youth Network, greeted Minister Meloni, giving her a Genoa Pride flag, symbol of the city that hosts the national Pride on the 40th anniversary of the LGBT movement and the right to express oneself in all different identities.
The following then intervened: Matthew Martelli, responsible for the first major European project on homophobic bullying curated by Arcigay, Alessandro Buffoli, Researcher at the University of Padua who conducted the first major Italian research on suicide among young homosexuals and bisexuals, Victor Lingiardi, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst at La Sapienza University of Rome, on the topic of internalized homophobia.