The bill presented to the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS) by Pino Apprendi, Francesco Musotto, Giulia Adamo, Alessandro Aricò, and Alberto Campagna provides for the establishment in Sicily of a registry of de facto couples (formed by people of different or same sex) at the Regional Department of Family Affairs.
The Stop Homophobia Coordination, of which Arcigay Palermo is a part, has repeatedly publicly expressed strong doubts about a bill that does not support or help in any way de facto couples or the daily lives of LGBT people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans), while recognizing that it could have constituted a starting point for a broader discussion.
In fact, a purely formal recognition does not correspond to any right, and no substantial recognition.
At the ARS, we continue to call for a law against homophobia, transphobia, and gender discrimination that promotes people's rights in areas where the Region has full autonomy: healthcare, education and training, and social assistance.
A law modeled on several regional laws already approved (e.g., in Puglia, Tuscany, and Piedmont), capable of impacting social exclusion and people's rights, more comprehensive and detailed than the bill presented to the Sicilian Regional Parliament.
But we cannot remain indifferent to vulgar attacks like those of some PDL members, incited by "Giovane Italia" (the PDL's youth organization), released a couple of days ago during a press conference.
During this conference, it was announced that "a campaign will be launched to raise awareness and engage Sicilian citizens through a popular petition that will be distributed at polling stations throughout the country. At the same time, the PDL parliamentary group in the Sicilian Regional Assembly will launch a strong opposition with the specific goal of creating a cross-party front among all Catholic MPs to block the law."“
All this with the aim of demonstrating "that Sicilians are against any attempt to create new family institutions as an alternative to the natural family" (without considering that the nuclear family is a relatively recent historical construct).
That is, they try to make news by fighting for rights, reiterating that in Sicily there are first-class citizens and second-class citizens, who should not even aspire to minimal institutional recognition.
This isn't politics: it's pettiness. The duty of administrators lies solely in improving the well-being of the citizens they represent; any other initiative is a betrayal of their mandate.
We continue to work for regional and national laws different from this bill, but we cannot remain silent in the face of this latest attack on common sense, on institutions, on the principles of the European and Italian constitutions, and on the rights of hundreds of thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Sicilians. This attack is being attempted just as Europe's eyes are turned to Italy, during the ILGA Europe conference currently underway in Turin.
The press release from ILGA Europe, Arcigay, and the Stop Homophobia Coordination: www.arcigay.it
