On the evening of Saturday 15 January 2010, Arcigay Florence received a request for help from Mario (not his real name), a transgender person who is completing his journey from female to male.
Mario, originally from Puglia, after being rejected by his family and fired from his job in Northern Italy, where he faced severe discrimination due to his advanced gender transition, has found himself living in his car for over a year, with no job opportunities or life plans that would allow him to adequately integrate into society.
The boy, after having wandered around for months in search of work, arrived in Florence from Emilia Romagna, passing through Siena, without any resources for his sustenance, prey to hunger and cold, he turned to the helpline service of Arcigay Florence (340 8135204), desperately asking volunteers for a warm place
where to spend a few nights and where to have a meal, since he had been forced to fast for days by then.
Representatives of Arcigay Florence immediately contacted the city's emergency cold-weather facilities, but most were either full or, given the late hour on Saturday, closed. However, the Florence public hotel, which houses males together, and several shelters run by nuns, despite having available places, reported that they could not take Mario, despite his male appearance, due to his identity documents, which identified him as female both by his first name and his gender. After countless phone calls and futile attempts at persuasion, the
After the boy was taken into care by a municipal shelter, Arcigay Florence attempted to contact Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi by phone. "Renzi responded immediately to our request for urgent assistance," the activists explain, "also given the fact that the boy was in a very precarious physical and psychological condition.
Immediately, the Mayor, despite the late hour, contacted the Councillor for Social Policies Stefania Saccardi who, also thanks to the extraordinary availability and help of Marzio Mori of Caritas Florence, immediately identified a
"A facility in Sorgane could have temporarily housed the boy, providing him with immediate assistance that would have prevented his situation from worsening. We sincerely thank Mayor Matteo Renzi and Councilor Saccardi," the representatives of Arcigay Florence continued, "because with a humane gesture and without any hesitation,
They have shown the right sensitivity and attention towards a person in serious difficulty, allowing us to begin - we hope in support of the Social Services of the Municipality of Florence - a path of real integration for Mario in our city, so that a future of serenity can be outlined for him, far from the dramas he has had to face up to now.
cross.
“We are grateful,” they conclude, “also to all those, including the president of District 1 Stefano Marmugi, who, warned by the
Our volunteers have proven ready and available to seek timely solutions for Mario, in order to provide him with assistance and give him hope for a better life.".