“"Let's stop those who want to change the face of our city."”
Bologna, January 8, 2013 – Activists at the Cassero have been following with great concern the recent announcement regarding the tender for the Cassero di Porta Santo Stefano in Bologna. The tender apparently rejected the projects of the collectives Antagonismogay/Laboratorio Smaschieramenti, Clitoristix/Quelle che non ci stanno, and NullaOsta (who have held the space since 1998), reserving the space for three other associations working in completely different fields.
It's impossible not to see this outcome as the fulfillment of that murky and entirely political project initiated by Commissioner Cancellieri during her tenure in the city. An improper act, an abuse, implemented at a time of total suspension of democracy, a disaster for which the people and political parties of this city bear full responsibility.
Those people, those parties, must now assume that responsibility and restore the substance of politics to public administration. Atlantide is an achievement, a stronghold of identity, a hotbed of self-determination. A symbol, in short, a distinctive feature of our urban fabric and our history, an original ingredient that defines the growth and outlook of those who spend their formative years in this city.
All this is not put up for auction like the Salaborsa cafeteria.
And we are not willing to support the plans of those who, hiding behind ostensibly democratic administrative procedures, are actually pursuing a strategy of marginalizing the most deeply rooted experiences of self-management, as if they were disrupting the urban decorum of this city.
We therefore wholeheartedly support the mobilization promoted by Atlantide and reiterate our invitation to participate in the public meeting called for tomorrow at 8:00 PM at the Porta Santo Stefano headquarters.
Arcigay “il Cassero”