Tag Archives: Italy

Despite Vatican Opposition, Italy Passes Civil Unions Bill for Lesbian and Gay Couples 

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In what is being referred to as a rejection of Vatican influence into Italian politics,  the Italian Parliament voted in a civil unions bill this week, becoming the final nation in the 28-member European Union to do so.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had called a confidence vote, as a way to prevent further delays and amendments, and he received a victory of 369-193. A later vote on the actual bill in the lower house of Parliament resulted in a tally of 372-51, with 99 abstentions, paving the way for civil unions to become the law of the land. The Senate had already approved the bill in February.

Rome’s Trevi Fountain was lit up in rainbow colors to celebrate the passage of the civil unions bill.

In their news report of the decisive vote, The New York Times stated:

“It was a historic occasion for a nation that is still dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, which opposed the measure, and where traditional family norms are still strong.”

Source:  Bondings 2.0

Stepchild ad una coppia gay: sentenza storica a Roma 

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Il Tribunale per i minorenni di Roma ha emesso un’altra sentenza storica sull’adozione da parte di coppie omosessuali. Ha concesso l’adozione di un bambino, un maschietto, a due padri omosessuali che sono ricorsi ad una inseminazione eterologa, quindi ad una cosiddetta maternità surrogata, in Canada.

I due uomini sono una coppia stabile dai tempi dell’Università: il Tribunale ha quindi ritenuto che fosse nel superiore interesse del bambino stare con i due papà che lo hanno cresciuto ed ha di fatto legalizzato una situazione esistente da tempo. I termini sono infatti scaduti e la sentenza è inappellabile.

Source: Gay.it

Italie : deux hommes accèdent à l’adoption

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C’est une « décision historique » que vient de prendre le Tribunal des mineurs de Rome, comme le rapporte Gay.it. Alors que le projet de loi sur l’union civile n’entend pas légiférer sur l’adoption par les couples de même sexe, la Cour vient de reconnaître l’adoption d’un enfant par deux hommes, désormais deux heureux papas.

Ce dernier, un petit garçon, a été conçu par insémination hétérologue (c’est-à-dire par insémination du sperme du donneur) puis par le biais d’une maternité de substitution au Canada.

Les deux hommes formant un couple stable depuis l’université, le Tribunal des mineurs a effectivement estimé qu’il était dans l’intérêt de l’enfant de vivre avec les deux papas qui l’ont élevé.

Source: Italie : deux hommes accèdent à l’adoption

Italian Senate Approves Civil Unions for Gay Couples, but Not Adoptions

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After months of political infighting, and decades of battles by homosexuals for civil rights, Italy’s Senate on Thursday approved the country’s first law granting legal recognition to civil unions, but stopped short of giving same-sex couples the right to stepchild adoption.

The paring of the adoption provision was crucial to the passage in the Senate, where the bill faced enough resistance that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tied its fate to a confidence vote on his government, which passed handily, 173 to 71.

The bill also grants some civil rights to unmarried couples, who have historically been largely ignored under current legislation.

The bill, which Mr. Renzi called “historic” on Twitter after sealing agreement over the text on Wednesday, now goes to the lower house of Parliament, where it seems certain to pass in coming weeks.

Source: Italian Senate Approves Civil Unions for Gay Couples, but Not Adoptions – The New York Times

Italian Prime Minister Rebukes Cardinal Over Civil Unions Involvement

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Italy’s prime minister rebuked a Catholic cardinal for his involvement in the nation’s debate over civil unions, and suggested his government would call a confidence vote to advance the stalled bill.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi criticized Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco’s interference after the cardinal, who heads the Italian Episcopal Conference, said the Italian Senate should employ a secret ballot when voting on the civil unions bill. Renzi told state radio RAI:

” ‘Parliament decides whether or not to allow secret votes … not the head of the bishops’ conference. . .What is there to fear from two people who love each other? Why not give these rights to two people who love each other? The majority of the country is clearly in favor of it.’ “

Despite Bagnasco’s claim that a secret ballot would allow legislators a conscience vote, Business Insider reported that a secret ballot “could sabotage the legislation” if legislators vote against their party’s platform.

Prime Minister Renzi is correct that 70% of Italians endorse legal protections for those in same-gender partnerships, but the civil unions bill has been stalled due to disputes over adoption rights. Only 24% of Italians support allowing same-gender partners to adopt each other’s biological children, and even in Renzi’s own center-left Democratic Party there is resistance to legalize adoptions.

Source: Bondings 2.0

Unioni civili, marcia indietro del Pd: ddl Cirinnà sarà cambiato. Come chiede Ncd – Il Fatto Quotidiano

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Era tutto pronto, definito e da approvare prima possibile. Lo annunciava a più riprese il premier Matteo Renzi, lo certificava il sottosegretario alle Riforme Ivan Scalfarotto: entro la fine del 2015 l’Italia avrebbe avuto la sua legge sulle Unioni Civili , senza alcun cambiamento al ddl già approvato in commissione Giustizia al Senato. E invece dopo mesi di rassicurazioni arriva […]

Source: Unioni civili, marcia indietro del Pd: ddl Cirinnà sarà cambiato. Come chiede Ncd – Il Fatto Quotidiano

The Italian town where gay couples can’t marry but can die together

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The Vimercate town assembly voted to change the local rules so gay couples can apply to have adjacent graves but the local Catholic priest isn’t happy

12 JUNE 2013 | BY DANIELE GUIDO GESSA

Gay couples can’t be married in Italy but one town in the north of the country has decided they can, at least, be buried together.

Vimercate, a town in the Lombardy region, changed the rules yesterday (11 June) so gay and lesbian couples now have the right to apply to have adjacent graves in the local cemetery when they die.

The industrial town of 25,000 inhabitants, near Milan, split on the issue, with a part of the assembly – led by left-wing parties – voting against the new local law.

Even the local Catholic priest, don Mirko Bellora, opposed the move. He said: ‘I hope this local law is going to be changed again.’

Nina Laino, who is in charge of the families’ register in Vimercate, told Gay Star News: ‘We have changed the cemeteries’ rules. They will be fully operative from next Saturday [15 June].

‘No same-sex couples have applied to be buried together yet, but we decided to set up new rules for the future.’

A local councillor led a campaign against the new law. And the local left-wing Partito Democratico (PD) split as well.

Laino added: ‘It has been very simple, we only had to change some words in the local rules. We wrote “partner” instead of “husband” and “wife”, it was not such a big effort.’

But the Vimercate’s council is working also on giving more rights to gay couples, though they will stop short of a gay partner’s register.

Laino said: ‘We are not going to introduce a Registro delle unioni civili, like that in Milan and in other Italian cities.

‘We won’t have an official register of the same-sex couples, but we are going to guarantee local welfare and benefits to gay couples as well.’

– continue reading at Gay Star News.

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Vatican paper criticises gay adoption after Italy ruling

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(Reuters) – The Vatican newspaper on Sunday stressed that children should be raised by a father and a mother after Italy’s top appeals court granted a gay mother custody of her son, prompting a debate over gay adoption.

Italy’s Court of Cassation on Friday rejected an appeal by a father who feared his son would not have a balanced upbringing if he lived with his mother and her female partner. The court ruled it was “mere prejudice” to think that a child could not be brought up normally by homosexual parents.

While gay rights group Arcigay hailed the decision as a “historic ruling” in Italy, where it is illegal for gay couples to adopt, Catholic leaders were quick to defend the traditional family unit.

L’Osservatore Romano, the 151-year-old mouthpiece of the Holy See, on Sunday ran an editorial which sought to play down the ruling of the court, saying that children often grow up in difficult circumstances without a mother or father.

“But no one believes that these situations should be created just because in some cases they don’t cause damage,” wrote Adriano Pessina, director of bioethics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

via  Reuters.

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Italy’s Court of Cassation supports gay adoption

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Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, has ruled homosexuals should be able to adopt children.

The court Friday rejected a claim by a Muslim man in Brescia that his child was being damaged because his former partner is now living with a woman, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The court called the belief that being brought up by a gay couple is damaging to children “mere prejudice.”

Flavio Romani, president of the group Arcigay, called it a “historic ruling” and said it will allow future governments to enact laws allowing same-sex marriage.

“The Cassation Court today reaffirmed what we’ve been saying for a long time,” Romani said. “Love is what makes children grow, and not the sexual orientation of their parents.”

Giancarlo Galan, a former Veneto governor and member of Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party, commended the ruling, calling it a “significant step forward for civil rights.” He said Italy is a secular state that should “listen to its citizens and no one else.”

Sen. Ignazio Marini, a member of the Democratic Party, said gays should have the same rights as heterosexuals

-more at  UPI.com.

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