by CRISTIANA MANGANI
ROME – The Court of Cassation transcends politics, aligns itself with the rest of Europe, and entrusts "social and legal evolution" with a ruling that, for Italy, is revolutionary: same-sex couples, like heterosexual ones, the Supreme Court judges write, have the right "to family life," even though a marriage duly registered abroad cannot be recognized in our country. The First Civil Chamber in Piazza Cavour addresses the sensitive issue of same-sex relationships, equating them, from the standpoint of personal rights, to those between men and women, starting with the case of Antonio Garullo and Mario Ottocento, two artists living in Latina who have been in a stable relationship for twelve years. In an eighty-page ruling, the Supreme Court judges explain that, although Italy does not yet have a law permitting same-sex marriage, this does not mean that gay couples have fewer rights than married couples, and therefore can expect the same treatment guaranteed by law to heterosexual spouses.
The story began ten years ago when Antonio and Mario decided to get married in The Hague, Netherlands, where it was legally permitted. In 2004, they went to a notary in Latina to ask for a trust fund, but the notary explained that he couldn't do it because their marriage didn't exist in Italy, as it wasn't registered. They then approached the mayor of the Pontine town, but he refused to register it because the marriage "was formed abroad and is against public order.".
A legal battle ensued, during which the couple received only negative opinions, until yesterday when the Court of Cassation, highlighting the changed European regulatory framework on the matter, ruled that this should also have effects in Italy. While it is true, the Supreme Court judges say, that a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court denied recognition of the right to same-sex marriage, leaving Parliament the task of protecting same-sex unions with specific provisions, another ruling by the Strasbourg Court (dated June 24, 2010) recognized the right of same-sex couples to "family life." Pursuant to Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights (also implemented in Italy), the Court writes in decision number 4184, "the concept according to which the different sexes of the engaged couple are an indispensable, so to speak, naturalistic, prerequisite for the very existence of marriage" has been overcome. For this reason, "the non-transcribability of homosexual unions no longer depends on their non-existence or even their invalidity, but on their inability to produce, as marriage certificates, any legal effect under the Italian legal system.".
The reactions were immediate: from Gay Center to Equality Italia, from Arcigay to Circolo Mieli, from the Radicals to the PDCI, PRC, and SEL, everyone was jubilant and calling for urgent intervention from Parliament. Ignazio Marino of the Democratic Party called it a "historic" ruling, and he is now calling for Italy to pass a law on the matter. "Long live the Supreme Court," declared Della Vedova of the FLI. Maurizio Lupi, however, rejected the ruling, calling it "exaggerated and exploited," stating that "marriage is between a man and a woman, as enshrined in our Constitution." On the executive side, Minister for Integration Andrea Riccardi clarified that the issue of recognizing same-sex unions "is not in the government's program. It's a matter for Parliament." There is strong opposition, however, on the Catholic front: according to Francesco D'Agostino, president of the Italian Catholic jurists, the Court of Cassation has "deemed sexual identity irrelevant" for the "qualification of the couple's relationship" as marital, and this indicates, among other things, a "loss of value of the essence of marriage as such.".