"The newspapers didn’t report at all": the story of a gay island created by Msoli’s Fascists

Contents:

• THE SAD BUT TE STORY OF SAN DOMO, FASCIST ITALY’S ISLAND FOR ‘IMMORAL’ GAY MEN
• IL TURISMO LGBTQ | PUGLIA – ITALY’S GAY SUMMER PARADISE
• LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH | PUGLIA’S GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY FASCISTS
• GAY ITALY
• THE FASCATG TALE OF FASCIST ITALY'S ALL-GAY ISLAND PARADISE
• "THE NEWSPAPERS DIDN’T REPORT AT ALL": THE STORY OF A GAY ISLAND CREATED BY MSOLI’S FASCISTS
• OUR 7 FAVOURE PLAC TO EXPERIENCE GAY ITALY

THE SAD BUT TE STORY OF SAN DOMO, FASCIST ITALY’S ISLAND FOR ‘IMMORAL’ GAY MEN

From 1919 to 1945, fascist lear Beno Msoli transformed Italy om a mocracy to a totalarian dictatorship by g state police to vlently supprs all unsirable elements, cludg gay men. Towards this end, 1938, the mayor of Catania, Sicily, cid to stop the “spreadg of generatn” by roundg up gay men and shippg them off to San Domo, an island nearly 500 away.

The island has sce bee known as Msoli’s gay island. Although homosexualy wasn’t actually illegal durg the time of Msoli’s le, was seen as a mental disorr ntradictg fascist Italy’s ial of the “new man, ” a virile man who embodied strict ary behavr. As such, fascist ernment lears sought to intify and supprs gay men through spi gay hangouts and through a form of forced rince known as nfo (or nfement).

So, that same year, the mayor and lol police round up 45 gay lol men and ported them to San Domo, an island  the Adriatic Sea’s Isole Tremi archipelago, two hours by ferry om Italy’s south-central ast. San Domo, Msoli’s gay island.

IL TURISMO LGBTQ | PUGLIA – ITALY’S GAY SUMMER PARADISE

There are no known gay survivors of the San Domo nfement, but historil rearchers say gay men arrived there handcuffs and were placed dormori wh no nng water or electricy. Though Msoli ed other Italian islands to nfe his polil prisoners, San Domo remaed Msoli’s gay island rerved exclively for gay men. Dpe s harsh livg ndns, some ways gay men uld live more openly on Msoli’s gay island than they uld their own hometowns.

LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH | PUGLIA’S GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY FASCISTS

Msoli’s gay island is the subject of the 2008 graphic novel In Italia Sono Tutti Maschi (In Italy Everyone Is Manly) and the 2018 mil San Domo, wrten by Tim Anfilogoff and Alan Whtaker.

GAY ITALY

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THE FASCATG TALE OF FASCIST ITALY'S ALL-GAY ISLAND PARADISE

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"THE NEWSPAPERS DIDN’T REPORT AT ALL": THE STORY OF A GAY ISLAND CREATED BY MSOLI’S FASCISTS

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OUR 7 FAVOURE PLAC TO EXPERIENCE GAY ITALY

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