Bologna, May 23, 2015 – “The Irish people have chosen the beauty of equality”: Flavio Romani, president of Arcigay, celebrates the extraordinary success of the “yes” vote in the referendum held in Ireland on same-sex marriage. Ireland today is finally shaking off the hypocritical bigotry of the Catholic Church, which held it hostage for so long. It's the success of a single day, of course, of those extraordinary lines of voters queuing to make their country a better place, but above all, it's the success of a relatively recent and rapid process, which tells us of the resilience of a country that, unlike Italy, has truly decided to change direction. Only in 1993, twenty-two years ago, did Ireland decriminalize homosexuality. Seventeen years later, in 2010, same-sex unions were recognized. And today, just five years later, the green island is celebrating full equality. But if Ireland had to resort to a referendum to amend the Constitution, in Italy no amendment would be necessary; a law would suffice. All it would take, in other words, would be for our parliamentarians to seize the opportunity that the European debate offers them and make an act of high vision. politics, aiming straight for equality. Yet it must be said that even today, Italy is struggling to develop the debate on a partial and mediating bill, already shelved elsewhere, in an obstacle course of farcical amendments, drafted by those who sit in the same majority that signed the text under discussion. Another glaring difference between Italy and Ireland then becomes apparent: the quality of their respective ruling classes: in Ireland, a practicing Catholic prime minister, representing a party that adheres to the Popular Front in Europe, on the eve of the elections urged citizens to vote "Yes." This scenario is unimaginable in Italy, where the prime minister, however, is a representative of the Party of European Socialists. Only by resolving this uniquely Italian paradox, evident in this as in so many other areas, can we too aspire to equality, or at least to an effective debate, without having to subject rights to the judgment of majorities," concludes Romani.
