[:it](Article published in Format. July-August 2020)
Arcigay arrives in Rieti
To understand what Arcigay is and what it does—that is, the culture, lives, and rights of LGBT+ people—it's essential to explain how and why it was founded. Antonio Galatola and Giorgio Agatino Giammona were murdered in the Sicilian town of Giarre on October 31, 1980. They were executed in the open countryside and found holding hands. Next to their bodies was a note, saying they killed themselves because their love was not accepted in Giarre. Both bodies had two bullet holes in the head, and three days after their bodies were found, a thirteen-year-old boy, Antonio's nephew, confessed to the police that he was the killer. Investigators ignored the testimony, as during the initial searches of the citrus grove, the two bodies were not found; Francesco, not liable for charges due to his young age, pleaded guilty to exonerate other relatives who couldn't accept the scandal of having a homosexual in the family: "They were after women! They were full of women", and journalists are also asked: "Not to put too much emphasis on the sexual men of Our Nation, as it would only serve as incitement and disturbance even to those who are not.".
After the Giarre events, the idea of creating Arcigay, an association to protect the rights of homosexuals, took shape. The fifty-five-year-old gay priest Marco Bisceglia, in Palermo, the Sicily where the double homicide occurred, launched this project. Several clubs subsequently emerged across Italy, and on March 3, 1985, the decision was made to establish a national ArciGay association. Thirty-five years later, Arcigay chapters spread across the country have grown to over seventy, and on July 19, 2020, Rieti also joined this large family: "In the province of Rieti, there is a clear need for an association that represents the needs of the LGBT+ community," said Domenico Di Cesare, President of Rieti LGBT+. "We at 'Rieti LGBT+'," Di Cesare continues, "await you for a constructive discussion and to embark on a journey of shared growth, for the social inclusion of all people and against all discrimination: the Association is nonpartisan, nondenominational, anti-totalitarian, anti-sexist, and anti-racist.".
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