Viterbo, April 14, 2026 – In the last few days a local newspaper has relaunched on social media the news of the opening of the Trans and Enby Group promoted by Arcigay Viterbo – Peter Boom APS As part of the Rainbow Help Desk. This initiative was intended to inform residents of the launch of a useful, concrete service, previously completely absent in our region: a space designed to offer support, connections, and opportunities for sharing to people who too often remain without adequate support.
Over 600 comments accumulated under that post, many of which quickly degenerated into insults, ridicule, pathologization, dehumanization, and, in the most serious cases, threats.
What happened cannot be dismissed as social media folklore or mere excessive language. It is a serious matter. And it is even more serious because it comes at a time when, in Rome, the association Gender X has reported extremely serious threats against its headquarters and against trans people, including the explicit threat to "set fire" to those inside. Our full solidarity and support goes out to Gender X. We are not dealing with isolated incidents, but with a widespread climate of hostility that must be recognized for what it is.
Making the situation even more serious and alarming is the lack of adequate moderation under local news Facebook posts. In these spaces, insults, threats, and verbal abuse accumulate unchecked, becoming part of the landscape and, in effect, normalized.
For these reasons, Arcigay Viterbo – Peter Boom APS, assisted by the lawyer Eva Tiseo, filed a formal complaint regarding the more serious content that emerged under the post, reserving the right to take further action in the appropriate venues.
“We are not retreating an inch. The creation of this AMA Group responds to a real need and the lack of a necessary service in our area. The hatred poured out under that post is serious and should not be minimized. But just as we read hundreds of violent, offensive, and intimidating comments, we also read countless words of support, sympathy, and clarity from so many people in our city. And it is there that today we recognize the most important fact: there is a healthy, civilized Viterbo that does not identify with that violence and that still knows how to distinguish between public confrontation and barbarism,” declares President Lorenzo Abbate.
