corpidicarta:

This will be a long post, but it may be worth it. The law proposal covers a number of topics including civil unions and adoption, and it will be discussed (and hopefully approved) in Parliament on January 28th. I honestly have never seen my country discuss one single topic the way this law is being discussed right now — I live in London and my parents told me on the phone that on TV, on the radio, everyone is talking about it. Literally everyone. 

In short:

• Civil unions will be the equivalent of marriage for same’sex couples, granting civil rights to both partners (right now, Italy doesn’t recognise any rights so same’sex couples).
  
• The most discussed and debated bit of the law is the one regarding the “stepchild adoption”: if the law is approved, people in same-sex couples will be able to adopt the biological child of their partner. Adoption of kids with no blood relationship to either of the partners won’t be possible. (Anyway, this part of the law is why some politicians asked to make surrogacy illegal… basically, to make adoption as well illegal, too.) bear in mind that the law could undergo changes.
• The majority of Italians is in favour of civil unions, but decidedly against stepchild adoption, or any kind of adoption, on the basis that “families are made by a man, a woman, and their kids” and two same-sex parents possibly can’t raise a child. 

Tomorrow (January 23rd) is supposed to be the “Family Day,” a day where Catholics protest against civil unions and LGBTQ+ rights to defend the “traditional family”. As this post says, LGBT associations decided to fight back and organise a flashmob called “svegliatitalia” (”Wake up Italy”) against Family Day in more than 80+ cities in Italy. It’s going to be huge. Apparently, people will also gather in London and in other European capitals in front of the Italian Embassy. 

I’ve seen a few people from other countries argue that “it’s about making our voices heard” like people did in other countries, but it’s not just that. Here I explained why the Catholic Church has made it hard for Italy to progress in civil rights, starting from abortion to same-sex unions,” but here are the important bits:

Historically, Church and State, in Italy and in Europe, have always been two contrasting forces. If a Pope excommunicated a king, he’d lose control over his country immediately because Pope is, basically, the spokesperson of God himself. […]  

 People then began to be divided into those who thought that the Church should only had religious power, and those who were convinced that the Church should had both powers on earth - and since its creation, the Church was also in charge of the education. /It shaped people’s mind through education/, through its priest, monks, and in the 19th and 20th century, through nuns too. […]

When Italy because a unified country in 1861, Catholicism became State religion. Then, in 1929, Mussolini and the Church signed an international agreement - called the “Patti Lateranensi” - in which he agreed to use the Church’s law in terms of marriage as abortion in the whole country and agreed to the teaching of Catholic Religion in all schools — INCLUDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS. […] 

I’m sure you are well aware of the stance of the Church on homosexuality - a sin, and a bad one enough to lead to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (although there’s a lot to be said about the interpretation of that whole bit), unnatural, an abomination, an “attack to peace and justice” (so Pope Ratzinger called it). Imagine a whole population shaped for CENTURIES with this kind of mindset. Even if homosexuality was never illegal according to Italian law, it was HIGHLY disapproved of and persecuted.

Now, back to modern history. The Patti Lateranensi were edited in the 80s Catholicism stopped being State Religion; laws on abortion and divorce were finally introduced. But that does not mean that the Church stopped having power over Italy: firstly, directly over the Italian government; secondly, indirectly through people. Religion is still taught in public schools. Crucifixes are hung to the walls of every public office or public school. […]

The Church has been going in the way of politics for years in modern history in matter of abortion, divorce, assisted suicide, sex education — all of which they’re firmly against against. Imagine trying to achieve equality is a country where the “spokesperson of God himself” says that homosexuality is an abomination and the majority of the population is Catholic. Many politicians, most of them, ARE CATHOLIC. 

The Pope stated this very morning that “civil unions” are not to be confused with the institution that is a marriage between a marriage and a woman (lol). So. This is it. In less than one week, the Parliament will decide. And, hopefully, Italians will get what the rest of Western Europe already has. Keep your fingers crossed for us and SIGN THIS PETITION TO HELP US.