[:en]Let's defend rights: an appeal to parliamentarians from LGBT+ associations[:]

The intergroup has the clear goal of curtailing the rights of women, LGBT+ people, and citizens who demand the right to decide on their own death without being subjected to medical treatment they didn't request. All this while verbal abuse from ministers and party leaders is targeting other minorities, including migrants and Roma, and spaces for dissent are diminishing, as demonstrated by the case of actress Ottavia Piccolo, who was stopped by police for wearing an ANPI handkerchief.

The quality of democracy in Italy, understood as the capacity of institutions to protect the rights of all its citizens, is rapidly deteriorating. As LGBT organizations, we are committed to civil society to strengthen resistance to a trend that, in Italian cities, is resulting in physical violence against dozens of people: a couple of men were attacked in Verona, the walls of their home defaced and doused with gasoline to set it alight. Roma people and immigrants are targeted by those who believe it is legitimate to shoot them like targets. And these are just two examples. We are concerned and see no response commensurate with the dangers we are facing from the parliamentarians who should be opposing this barbarity.

Where are the Five Star Movement MPs and senators who, in past years, fought for the environment, the rights of precarious workers, and minorities? Are they okay with supporting a government that sides with authoritarian EU countries like Poland and Hungary, or non-EU ones like the Russian Federation?

Where are the deputies and senators of the Democratic Party and the left-wing forces whom we too often hear engaged in sterile debates on party architecture and nominations?

Where are the deputies and senators of a liberal right who should have individual rights among their guiding stars?

Tomorrow is already too late: you have the duty to raise your voice to defend the rights of people - of every orientation, gender and generation - who live and travel through this country, giving voice and body to a malaise and a social opposition that, despite a thousand difficulties, exists and has the right to have political representation.

We LGBT+ associations will continue to do our part with responsibility and courage, now it's your turn.

Agedo
ALFI National – Italian Lesbian Feminist Association
Arcigay
Arcigay Naples
Radical Association Certain Rights
Mario Mieli Homosexual Culture Circle
Turin Pride Coordination
Rainbow Families
i – Ken
Omphalos LGBTI
Rainbow Parents Network
Lenford Network – Advocacy for LGBTI Rights