The dean of the Roma Tre University
Massimiliano Fiorucci on Wednesday said a project for trans and
gender diverse children and teens organized by his college's
Department of Sciences and Training had sparked a "witch-hunt"
while the only objective of the project was to better understand
the emotional lives of youths involved in the research.
The workshop for "trans and gender creative kids" between the
ages of five and 14 to "listen to them and gather their stories"
to be conducted by university researchers and a Montessori
teacher, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday at the
Roma Tre University, sparked a controversy with a number of
politicians and associations including the pro-life Pro Vita
announcing initiatives against the project.
"Over the past few days, an instrumental and misinformed
controversy" has been waged over the initiative, said Fiorucci,
"which is nothing else than one of the phases of a project - a
scientific study of a qualitative nature on the well-being of
trans and gender diverse children and teens as clinically
recognized by the World Health Organization".
He said most of the research was of a clinical and medical
nature and focused on the mental health of gender diverse
children and teens "leaving the social contexts in which they
move in the background" and aimed to focus on the perspective of
minors rather than the adults in their lives, like many other
studies on gender diverse minors.
"The scientific research carried out by the university is never
preceded by a thesis" but could contribute to "elaborating one,
including of a different nature", concluded the dean.
Pro Vita has launched a national petition asking Fiorucci to
immediately cancel the initiative which it described as
"ideological" and as involving minors outside any shared
scientific context.
Meanwhile University Minister Anna Maria Bernini said she has
ordered her ministry's office to contact Roma Tre to gain
information on the workshop.
In particular, Bernini asked to verify whether the project
abided by requirements that allowed the university to obtain
public funding.
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