For gays Italy, rights and acceptance are still elive - Los Angel Tim

Contents:

• VATIN EXPRS DEEP RERVATNS OVER GAY RIGHTS BILL ITALY
• POPE FRANCIS LLS FOR END TO ANTI-GAY LAWS AND LGBTQ+ WELE OM CHURCH
• GAY ROME
• EUROPE’S EPENG DIVI ON GAY RIGHTS
• A LAT EXPERT’S ODYSSEY, FROM THE VATIN TO THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• THOANDS GATHER FOR GAY RIGHTS PROTT ROME
• FOR GAYS ITALY, RIGHTS AND ACCEPTANCE ARE STILL ELIVE

VATIN EXPRS DEEP RERVATNS OVER GAY RIGHTS BILL ITALY

Vcenzo Pto/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagPublished June 22, 2021Updated July 5, 2021VATICAN CITY — The Vatin has exprsed ncerns to the Italian ernment about a gay rights bill workg s way through Parliament, promptg cri on Tuday of church terference om liberal policians, gtur of gratu om nservativ and renewed tensns the historilly plited relatnship of neighborg ernments that both ll Rome Vatin nfirmed Tuday morng that the Holy See’s foreign mister, Archbishop Pl Richard Gallagher, hand livered a letter at a Vatin event last week to the Italian ambassador to the Holy See exprsg ep rervatns about the bill. Vatin official said he saw no such clse about schools the proposed church teachg holds that homosexual acts are “trsilly disorred, ” and oppos same-sex marriag, Pope Francis has exprsed support of civil unns and of guaranteeg gay upl equal Melloni, the historian, said that by polilly attackg the anti-discrimatn law, the Vatin had put self a no-w suatn. More about Jason HorowzA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 9 of the New York edn wh the headle: Vatin Exprs Deep Rervatns About Gay Rights Proposal Italy.

Pope Francis has cricised laws that crimalise homosexualy as “unjt”, sayg God lov all his children jt as they are, and llg on Catholic bishops who support the laws to wele LGBTQ+ people to the church. “Beg homosexual isn’t a crime, ” Francis said on Tuday an terview.

Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops some parts of the world support laws that crimalise homosexualy or discrimate agast LGBTQ+ people, and he himself referred to the issue terms of “s”. Francis’s ments, which were hailed by gay rights advot as a tone, are the first uttered by a pope about such laws. Gay rights advot say the antiquated laws are ed to jtify harassment, and pot to new legislatn, such as the “Don’t say gay” law Florida, which forbids stctn on sexual orientatn and genr inty om krgarten up to third gra, as evince of ntued efforts to margalise LGBTQ+ UN has repeatedly lled for an end to laws crimalisg homosexualy outright, sayg they vlate rights to privacy and eedom om discrimatn and are a breach of untri’ obligatns unr ternatnal law to protect the human rights of all people, regardls of their sexual orientatn or genr inty.

POPE FRANCIS LLS FOR END TO ANTI-GAY LAWS AND LGBTQ+ WELE OM CHURCH

Francis quoted the Catholic techism sayg gay people mt be weled and rpected, and should not be margalised or discrimated agast. Some Catholic bishops have strongly upheld them as nsistent wh Vatin teachg, while others have lled for them to be overturned as a vlatn of basic human Tuday, Francis said there need to be a distctn between a crime and a s wh regard to homosexualy.

Church teachg holds that homosexual acts are sful, or “trsilly disorred”, but that gay people mt be treated wh digny and rpect. Francis has not changed the church’s teachg, which has long riled gay Catholics.

GAY ROME

But he has ma reachg out to LGBTQ+ people a hallmark of his pope’s ments didn’t specifilly addrs transgenr or nonbary people, jt homosexualy, but advot of greater LGBTQ+ cln the Catholic Church hailed the pope’s ments as a momento advance. “We’re livg fear, ” Mar said, cg the example of a gay iend who was almost killed by his antagonist followg repeated harassment. “This guy me to simply bee he hat gays.

This isn’t anythg new, happens to gay people all the time, but many do not report through fear. ”Although Italy approved same-sex civil unns 2016, the untry lags behd s EU partners creatg anti-homophobia measur. Photograph: Ricrdo Antimiani/EPAAttempts by var ernments over the past three s to enshre gay rights law have eher been stifled or sabotaged.

EUROPE’S EPENG DIVI ON GAY RIGHTS

In addn, would crimalise a spate of recent attacks agast gay people, proponents argue that the legislatn is urgently need.

Ls than two weeks later, a gay uple were asslted by a group of six after they kissed each other at a tra statn Cque Terre, Liguria. Fabriz Marrazzo, a spokperson for Gay Centre, a Rome-based associatn, said received about 20, 000 reports of discrimatn agast LGBT people a year, of which about 9% are severe. Alsandro Zan, a gay polician wh the Democratic party, part of the lg aln, and archect of the draft legislatn, was threatened wh ath by an onle opponent unls he whdrew the bill.

A LAT EXPERT’S ODYSSEY, FROM THE VATIN TO THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Another Sicily who opposed the law said durg a sermon: “If you exprs an opn agast homosexuals, or don’t agree wh two men adoptg a child, you uld end up jail.

”Zan said: “While is te that there is still strong homophobia, stemmg om a patriarchal culture, the untry has also ma progrs. You'll fd a cent gay scene Rome, although 's smaller and more discrete than you might expect.

THOANDS GATHER FOR GAY RIGHTS PROTT ROME

You'll fd more clubs and late-night events than gay bars as the gay scene Rome tends to pick up later at night. Sign up to get the rt, cludg news om around the globe, tertg ias and opns to know, sent to your box every a Febary asslt on a same-sex uple at a Rome tra statn, lls heightened for what Italy lacked: A hate crime law to bat homophobia. “Two young men beaten up for a kiss, ” lamented Nila Zgaretti, ernor of Laz, the Italian regn where Rome happened next beme a se study of how gay rights have surged to the foreont of Europe’s culture wars.

The Italian far-right dismissed the proposed law — which would have also extend new protectns to women and the disabled — as “homosexual propaganda. ” The Vatin etted that Catholic schools might need to hold events for a natnal anti-homophobia day, cryg gement on eedom of a showdown last week, the Italian Senate rejected the bill an act that roed nservative lawmakers to a standg ovatn.

FOR GAYS ITALY, RIGHTS AND ACCEPTANCE ARE STILL ELIVE

”The ntent bate Italy is more evince of how Europe is stgglg wh what wrer Mark Gevisser has lled “the pk le” — or the divisn between and wh natns over gay rights. A bter feat for LGBTQ+ people #Italy, the lone holdout Wtern Europe opposg gay rights. Takg a page om the Rsian playbook, Polish lawmakers are workg on a law that uld ban gay pri paras.

Italy’s rejectn of the anti-homophobia law happened a untry that remas Wtern Europe’s biggt holdout on same-sex marriage. In neighborg France, where natnalist doyenne Mare Le Pen had leaned to most outreach toward gay voters, her newly surgg far-right challenger Éric Zemmour is toeg a ls clive le.

”The gay rights bate Europe has echo of the U. It fs more directly to the box of what some rights anizatns have lled “polil homophobia, ” or homophobia as a polil strategy.