Bologna, January 18, 2016 "We were very surprised to learn of an alleged covert intervention by the Quirinale to amend the civil unions bill being debated in the Senate starting January 28," said Gabriele Piazzoni, national secretary of Arcigay. He continues: "In the face of no public statement on the matter from the President of the Republic, and indeed the explicit intention of the Quirinale not to intervene in the debate on a law under discussion in Parliament, the press is haunting the spectre of a forceful intervention by the Head of State, which would even lead to concrete changes to the text under discussion. It is clear that someone is attempting to attack the protections and rights enshrined in the text of the law, through forced interpretations of the Constitutional Court's rulings and by using the figure of the Head of State to taint the debate. The issue being raised, namely the constitutionality of the Cirinnà bill and its clear distinction from the institution of marriage, has already been examined by the Senate Constitutional Affairs Committee and extensively addressed by the Justice Committee, which, following that discussion, finally agreed on a new wording for the bill, focusing on Article 2 of the Constitution and the definition of specific social formation. This is a fact we are well aware of, because the inequality that text defines affects us all, and we do not like it at all. It is impossible for us not to be aware of this aspect." which today in the debate seems to have been inexplicably or instrumentally removed", concludes Piazzoni.
