[:en]Today, 09/01/2020, at 7:30 pm, the extraordinary board of directors met to discuss and deliberate on the following agenda:
- Considerations and actions to be taken regarding the latest report of a homophobic attack in the Salento area.
Having confirmed the validity of the meeting, in which all were present, the following document – press release – was discussed and approved:
“On August 10, 2019, an assault took place in the municipality of Santa Cesarea Terme (Lecce), which we learned about from the local press only today, the day on which the Public Prosecutor Luigi Mastroniani of the Lecce prosecutor's office notified the conclusion of the investigation to five young Italian tourists (one of whom was originally from Salento), who allegedly repeatedly beat and left a 43-year-old man, whose identity we do not know, at risk of dying because of his sexual orientation.
First of all, we express our deep solidarity and human closeness to the victim, her family, her friends and the entire LGBTI+ community who felt hurt by this despicable act and we ask ourselves how it is still possible to think of discriminating or even using physical violence based on an individual's personal condition or, more generally, to consider the differences between human beings a reason for conflict rather than enrichment.
This consideration gives rise to the need to firmly reiterate the urgency of the Italian Parliament and local institutions' approval of laws to combat violent homo-lesbian-bi-transphobia. It is also necessary to emphasize how the inaction of the Puglia Regional Council, which has failed to approve Bill 253 of November 14, 2017, "laws against discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity," causes moral and substantial harm to all victims of violence and the entire LGBTI+ community.
We condemn this cruel and despicable act, which leaves an indelible mark not only on the individual directly involved, but on all of us. Beyond the physical and visible damage caused, it marks a dark chapter in the history of humanity and its actions. This episode tends to undermine, and effectively limit, the educational, protection, and promotional work carried out by our association for the benefit of this area, the minorities who inhabit it, and the community as a whole, in accordance with its statutory mandates.
We hope that justice will be served promptly and fairly, and that the perpetrators will pay exemplary price for their actions, so that they can truly understand right and wrong and reflect on the value of life and liberty. Together with our lawyers, the national legal office of Arcigay, and the injured party's defense attorney, we will evaluate whether it will be possible to join the criminal proceedings against the defendants as a civil party, thus ensuring our solidarity and support for the victim and the cause during the trial.
Salento, a must-see tourist destination for the LGBTI+ community for many years, remains an open and welcoming land, a cradle of peoples and cultures, a fertile ground for innovation and progress.”
Approved unanimously, the President adjourned the meeting at 8.45 pm.[:]
