Arcigay Bologna: Branà is the new president

RAIMONDO'S ROSARY
HE COULD BE DESCRIBED as the "scrap president." He wants to overturn the rules of an association, Arcigay, which over the years has become "too similar to a political party," weakened by internal strife, and lacking unity on the issues of the LGBT movement. Vincenzo Branà, 35, a journalist, is the new head of the Cassero in Bologna. He replaces Emiliano Zaino as head of one of the most important gay outposts in Italy.
«"We're in the trenches," Branà warns, explaining how he intends to work over the next three years of his term alongside Vice President Valeria Roberti and the activists. "We're too similar to political parties, with their promises and politically correct language. We need to return to being a movement, continue our battles and our demands.".
From his perspective, the handfuls of rice and glitter thrown at Democratic Party President Rosy Bindi at the Festa dell'Unità (Festival of Unity) and the same-sex marriage officiated by Democratic Party group leader Sergio Lo Giudice between two women, Ida and Mariagrazia, are welcome. This gesture sparked controversy among the Curia and Catholics. "Those women are happy. One of the ugliest aspects of this controversy is that it ignores the fulfillment of a dream by a person who has fought a lifetime for emancipation together with her partner, and who sees this life slip through her fingers without being able to see her rights recognized." The president, a reformer, promises these and other battles. Only time will tell whether they will serve and be useful to the demands loudly demanded by the gay movement. "The Cassero is a branch of Arcigay, one of the strongest, most important, and historic. Its role is to make a positive contribution in this difficult time the gay community is experiencing.".
For this reason, the new president immediately raises, as a hypothesis and a provocation, the sensational departure from Arcigay: "Either we network and be strong, or we risk being evanescent in our debate. Let's not behave like a party," is the point he emphasizes repeatedly. To achieve recognition of LGBT issues, starting with same-sex marriage, it is "necessary to make an impact, not retreat to the Aventine.".
And the weakness of the national association, which will meet in Ferrara in November to choose its own president from two fiercely contested factions, "doesn't help our fight. We're dealing with people's lives; this aspect can't be overshadowed by Arcigay's internal structure. We need to sound a wake-up call to the political parties.".