Brescia. Gays protest in the square for the anti-homophobia law.

The Chamber of Deputies' vote on the anti-homophobia law has been postponed until today. And it's not the first time. "We've been waiting 1,000 days for the Italian government to recognize the aggravating circumstance of violence and discrimination against homosexuals, lesbians, and transgender people," laments Luca Trentini, former president of Arcigay Orlando in Brescia and now national secretary. "The constitutional challenges to the law raised by some MPs from the People of Freedom, Northern League, and Christian Democrats, who believe the aggravating circumstance discriminates against non-homosexuals, fall short in the face of its approval by many European countries." Trentini, along with a group of LGBT rights supporters, including the Democrats, SEL, and the Brescia per Passione association, gathered in Piazza Loggia yesterday and, holding Arcigay rainbow flags, staged a demonstration to raise public awareness about what will be voted on today in Parliament.
«"That the right is so irrational, as well as unjust, in denying the rights of its own citizens is pure madness," thundered the Democratic Party's city secretary Giorgio De Martin. "The Concia law doesn't discriminate against heterosexuals at all; if anything, it condemns those who commit violence related to sexual orientation to harsher penalties." Mafalda Gritti of Brescia per Passione echoed this sentiment, declaring: "On the issue of rights, Italy still has a lot to fight for and win." On the flyer distributed by protesters, Arcigay Orlando made some clarifications: "Why is it that insulting someone because of their religious beliefs is expressly punished by law, while similarly harassing behavior toward gays, lesbians, or transgender people isn't punished by a specific law?" and further, "Discriminatory behavior based on race, religion, or sexuality should be equally punished. Why would they want to declare these unconstitutional?".
According to Trentini's predictions, "the preliminary issues will pass today, but the MPs who voted to block the vote will be considered moral accomplices to all the violence that LGBT people still suffer today simply for publicly expressing their sexual orientation." E.BEN.